The Black Era Saga
by Jaguar46
Summary: Chapter 15: Final chapter but its huge so print it out and grab some food. R/R your final thoughts
1. Default Chapter

Authors Note: 2 Things. #1. this is my first Zoids fic so take it easy on me. 2nd, I never got to watch the last few shows for the Guardian Force series so I kinda changed it a bit for those of you who have seen it all.

One more thing, this chapter is just like what you would read on the back of a book or movie, sorta like a intro. R/R if you want.

Chapter 1: The Black Era

3,000 Years Ago…….

A time when there was no chaos, a time when death was not caused by murder, and a time when Zoids weren't used as tools of war. A time when the Zodian civilization dominated the land of Zi. But there was something happening on Zi that wasn't known to well. Peace. But in order to have peace, you must have war. Many people began leaving the peaceful Zodians and began creating several factions. Soon war broke out and the peaceful Zodians began to kill. Many factions were destroyed shortly after creation, but a few lived on. As the war continued, months turned into years, and years turned into decades. The chaos of death formed some of the most evil of men. And the chaos continued. Soon it was clear the war would not end using brute force. 3 men however, dared to defy the laws of life. They wanted to create 3 unbeatable Zoids. Soon each man began to create there own Zoid which would save a planet from war. However, the evil of power and creed overcame the 3 men and began to make the 3 Zoids as evil as them. 25 years after the began to create Zoids to help end the war, they began to make the Zoids to destroy the life on the planet. The Tiger, The Dragon, and The Falcon where then born. 3 Zoids made of an unspeakable evil. Soon the Zodians and other factions began working together to stop the 3 mad Zoids and there heart-less makers. Finally, after countless lives were lost, the creators of the 3 Zoids died. The Zodians created 3 amulets, in those amulets were the life of the 3 Zoids themselves. The Zoids where hidden and the Amulets spread around the planet. Hoping the day would never come when a Era of Darkness, a Black Era, be formed from the 3 unbeatable Zoids coming back to life. Time is the deadliest warrior of all, and Time would have its way. Several Zodians where put in Suspended Animations along with several Organoids to help the day when Hell would rise and a planet would die. In the end only 1 Zodian would survive, and only a handful of Organoids would still exist. Hopefully just enough to prevent the Black Era.

Present Day…….

Myths turn to legends, legends turn to stories, stories turn to a desperate attempt to make them true. A Century of Chaos was over, and peace between the Empire and Republic would truly happen thanks to a few brave and honorable people. The Guardian Force would always remain and Van would be there new commander. With stories turning up about 3 lost Zoids, people begin spending all the money and all there life to find the 1 thing of truth, to find the thing that will make there dreams come true. Olny 2 men however, know the truth about the 3 Unbeatable Zoids. One is a force for good, a man seeking to destroy the Amulets and Zoids before there hellish power became alive again. The other, a man who has one goal, one objective, and one plan. A man whos evil is undefinable using comparsions. These 2 men will stop at nothing to complete there goals. To either prevent or bring about the death of millions, the falling of a planet, and a truly Black Era.


	2. End Of A Chaotic Century

Authors Note: Had to rewrite the chapters with HTML Tags, so please wait while I get it all loaded up. Im real sorry for all of you reading it but it will all be up within 2 days including new chapters.

Chapter 2: End Of A Chaotic Century

Van stood there on the balcony staring down at a crowd of at least 1,500 people, waiting to be honored by the top people of the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire. He was being honored for killing Raven and destroying his dreaded Geno Sauer. While the President spoke to the crowd about how brave he was and how he saved them all, he began to think about his past, and his future. "We owe this man are very lives and souls." The President said, Van was basically ignoring her speech. He took a quick look around him, to his right where the President and his good friend Prince Rudolph, down below was the crowd, some listening, some talking, some cheering, and some crying. And to his left, his friends who helped him through the times he thought he would never live though. Irvin, Moonbay, Thomas, and the girl he was falling in love with. "It is with great honor," the President said, "that the Empire and Republic award Van Flyheight with the highest award." Van stared at straight, waiting for the ceremony to end. The President then took out a small black box and gave it to Rudolph, "The Medal of Valor". When she said that the crowd gave a huge cheer and the young prince walked over to Van, handed him the medal and gave his friend a small hug. "Thanks Van," he said, "we owe you everything." Van was a hero to the Planet Zi, and he could easily be considered a hero. In his short life he had done more then any man could ever do if he had 3 lifetimes. Van was proud of himself, he wasn't going to deny that. But he still felt as if something was missing, Fiona took the box, opened it and put the medal around Vans neck. They smiled at each other.

            As the cheers continued, two men just stood there, staring at Van and his friends.  "Do you think he's the one who could help us". The first man said, he was wearing a jacket and jeans along with a pair of sunglasses.

            The second man turned his head and looked at his friend, then he turned his head back at the balcony. "Maybe, he is a damn good pilot, I wont deny that. But we need more then a damn good pilot." The man then looked at Fiona. "That girl next to him is a Zodian."            

             The first man quickly turned his head at the girl. "There's no way she's a Zodian, only a couple were put in suspended animation and they were all killed in the process. There is no way she's a Zodian".

           "Maybe your right, hopefully your not." The man started thinking, trying to figure out what she was. "We have to take a chance. Even if he cant help us its better then what we have, were running out of time fast, and when time runs out, so will all the people on this planet."

            The first man nodded in agreement. "So what do we do now, do we wait a little or talk to them now."

             "When we meet them, well talk. As for now, well have to wait." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red gem. "As long as we have this, we can get a few extra days before we have to move in." He put the gem back in his pocket and turned around. "Lets go." The first  man began to follow him down the road. 

           The ceremony was over. Van, Irvin, Moonbay, Thomas, and Fiona all walked through the capital city. There was still some destruction from his battle with Raven here, but it was a lot worse. When they were walking on the streets, people would walk up to them, usually saying things like "good work" and "thanks for helping us out", one woman even walked up to Van and gave him a polite kiss on the lips, making Fiona a little jealous. "Never thought I would become one of the most popular people on Zi." Irvin said.

        Moonbay looked at him and smiled. "Neither did I."  Irvin looked at her with a stiff face but then gave a little smile back at her.

        Van looked at them. "You two are letting this get to your head, you should know this wont last any longer then a month." They all looked at him like he was crazy.

        Thomas ended up speaking first. "Your crazy Van, you just killed Raven and the Geno Breaker, they'll be all over you for a very long time." Thomas looked over at Fiona, who was just walking quietly. "Are you ok Fiona." He asked.

        Fiona looked at Thomas, "Yes, I'm ok. I was just thinking." She was thinking, she had felt something around her for a long time, something that felt evil. She didn't know what it was, and she hoped she never had to find out.

        "Well snap out of it." Moonbay said sharply. "There all here thanking us for saving them and the two people who had the most to do with it don't even care." 

        "She's right for once Van, you've been real quiet since we got here. If I didn't know any better I think you were kind of angry." As he finished Moonbay hit him across the back of his head for that smart comment.

       "Just kind of sad that Raven is dead, he was a great pilot and a tough opponent. Though I guess he deserves it, he did kill a lot of people just to get to me." Van lowered his head and closed his eyes. As hard as it was to believe, he did miss Raven.

        They didn't say much more that night, they walked around, accepting peoples hand shakes and congratulations.  Young kids that reminded Van of himself when he was young would come up to him and thank him. He looked at Fiona, trying to figure out what she was thinking about, but then he decided he could never really understand Fiona. She was always full of surprises and never knew them herself. Walking along he say two men following them. When Van turned around to see what they where following them for he heard a loud noise, he turned around and saw Thomas laying on the ground, blood coming out of his chest screaming in pain.


	3. Heart Of A Monster

Authors Note: Chapter 3 in what I hope will be a very long story. I know I kind of ended the last chapter at a bad time but ill be doing that a lot to help keep up the suspense, but I write fast and I can get up to 2 chapters a day and if a lot of people like this story, I may put up even more. Keep up the reviews so I can tell how my story is going. Another thing, I know this story will start to look nothing at all like a Zoids book, but trust me it will all make sense when its done. So please don't give me a bad review because of that.

Chapter 3:Heart Of A Monster

        Van stood there, trying to figure out what just happened. People were screaming but he didn't care. He just stood there, watching the street become red from the blood of his friend. Fiona, Moonbay, and Irvin ran to him, to try to help him. Van could tell it was useless. The screams from Thomas were gone. And the thing Van feared most was happening to his best friend. He saw some medics run over with a stretcher. They put him on and took him to there jeep and drove away. It seemed like it took a year for those few minutes to end to Van. He looked around for the two strangers, but they were gone, and Van had an idea that they had something to do with the shooting. "The medics said he has a good chance of living." Van turned and saw Fiona talking to him. "I cant believe that just happened, why would anybody want to shoot him, they should be after me." Van closed his eyes and walked away. 

        "Are you going to go after him Fiona."  Moonbay said. Fiona looked at her. "No, not yet." Then she too walked away.

        Thomas Schubaltz lay in his bed, unconscious to the world, nearing the edge of life. The doctors were trying all they could but the bullet went straight through the heart. They do all they could when they could do it, but for now he would have to survive on his own with only a little help. As the doctors watched the monitor of his heart beating, they saw it begin to fade.

     The man who had shot Thomas began to walk through the crowd, smiling at what he did. He was a cold-blooded killer, and he enjoyed it. He has no soul, no remorse, no kindness, he did have a heart, but it was the heart of a monster. His name was Drake, he was a massive man standing at almost seven feet and weighing 250 pounds. It wasn't his size that scared people who met him though. It was what he does that scares people. To him, life is a game, and he was playing to win, and in order to win he knew what he had to do. The Black Zoids created centuries ago, would bring an era he could do nothing but enjoy. But only the greatest pilots could command them. He was one man not three, but he was smart as he was vicious, he selected two small children who would help him when the time came. He would watch from afar, making sure everything played out right. The two kids he chose did grow as he planned, and became the two greatest pilots alive. And now, the last step of his goal was done. And all that remained was to find the Black Zoids and the Amulets that contained their awesome power. As he put his gun on his jeep, he saw Van walking with his head down along the empty road. Yes, the game was going his way. And it was to late for him to lose.

       As Van walked along the street, he saw a jeep drive away. He didn't really care. He couldn't believe someone shot his friend. "Van", he heard Fiona call. He stopped and smiled at her. "You ok Fiona". 

    She smiled back at him. "I guess, are you ok"?

    Van thought about that question. "Pretty much, just still kind of surprised somebody shot Thomas. Where are Irvin and Moonbay."

     "They went to see Thomas, do you want to go, they told me where he's at".

      Again Van had to think, he wasn't sure if he wanted to see his friend lying there nearly dead, but he wanted to see him again. "Ok, ill go". 

       Fiona started to lead him to the hospital.

      "Damn it". One of the two men shouted. 

      "Drakes good, there's nothing we can do about it". The man with the hooded cloak said. "We moved to slow, hopefully we that didn't waste are last chance at winning."

      "What do we do now, as far as Van knows, we killed that guy. He will never help us now."

      "You worry to much Marcus, he has found none of the Zoids and we have the only Amulet known. As long as he doesn't find anything he can't win. Do you know where there at."

     "Best guess, at the hospital or the military base". Marcus stood up got his jacket and got ready to leave.

    "Ill go to the base, you check out the hospital. Find them and talk to them. Hopefully, we can find them." He got his cloak on and walked out of the room.

       As Drake drove his jeep through the desert night, his smile was gone, he had nothing to please him, he had come over his kill as he does all of the others. He has caused deaths and then seen them become rumors and lies. He hated that. He couldn't be stopped, people have tried but met the same fate as Thomas. Few things kept him from him desire. He loved to torture, he loved to kill. They were his only loves. His father raised him like that, giving him all the knowledge he had obtained about the Black Zoids. Drake was the closet to finding them. He looked up at the sky and saw the two moons. His father said when they were full and aligned, a map would be made at the ruins of the Zodian children. He knew that place, he had killed them all but one. And the one was helping him without even knowing it. He saw the building he wanted to go to, it was a prison in the middle of nowhere. It was best place to keep a man like himself, or a man with a passion just like his. He began to walk towards it. Again bringing back that smile of death.

      Inside the prison, a guard stood in front of a cell. The prison had a dark secret, something even Prince Rudolph knew about. 

      "Get up Raven, time to eat". The guard said. "Damn it, I said get up". He pulled out a whip and hit Raven with it, but Raven didn't care.

     "Forget you then, if you want to starve, so be it". The guard walked away.

     Raven stared at the ceiling, remembering his battle with Van. It was the greatest battle of his life. But in the end he had lost to Van again. He hated Zoids, and he failed in his quest to kill them all. Soon Raven dozed off.

     Raven woke up when he heard a scream and then shortly after he heard another one. He got up to see what they were, but before he got up a huge man was standing at his cell.

     "And who are you". Raven said.

     "My name is Drake, Raven".

     Raven was surprised to hear his name from this man.

     "So what do you want, …Drake".

    Drake smiled, "You want to destroy every Zoid there is. I and only I can help you. There are three Zoids somewhere on this planet that are unbeatable, created centuries ago by the evil of three men. And you, my friend, are one of three people with enough skill to pilot one of these Black Zoids. Now you have two choices, you can join me, or you can rot in this prison for the rest of your pathetic life while the Zoids you hate so much wonder the planet". Drake knew how to get into peoples minds, another one of his evil gifts he cherishes so much. 

    Raven gave him a smile and got up. "Thanks, but I don't need your help to escape". Raven saw Drake still smiling.

    "Go ahead, call your Organoid, but I can see you are willing to join me".

      Again Raven was shocked to see this man knew these things about him, he had never seen him before. To him though, it didn't mater. If what he said is true, then the Zoids he hated would die. And so would Van and that little Zodian girl who made him lose his GenoBraker. Raven stepped back. "Shadow!", Raven had screamed at the top of his lungs and soon Ravens Organoid broke through the wall. "Welcome back Shadow, its time to finish what we started."

     Drake knew it was over. Nothing could stop him now, and only one more thing was left before it was truly his victory. He turned and walked when he saw Shadow take Raven into his stomach. The Black Era, would happen. And it couldn't be stopped.

Authors Note: Got 2 stories in one day. Not to bad. Like I said don't bash me because my story doesn't really seem like Zoids right now but it will all make sense soon. I promise.


	4. Raven's Vegance

Authors Note: The first few chapters were basically intros to the new characters and some info on others, now that you know the main characters time to get this story moving.

Chapter 4: Raven's Vengeance

   Van, Fiona, Irvin, and Moonbay all sat there next to the dieing Thomas. The sun was starting to finally come up, that one night felt like a month. They all sat there, waiting, hoping, and praying. Thomas was there friend and they didn't want him to die like this. To them this day was the worst so far, and they have had some very bad days. 

   "I can not believe this". Moonbay said, in a low voice. "We were supposed to be honored, have fun, and take a break, when I found out who shot him, I will personally rip his head off".

   "Take it easy Moonbay, I want to get the guy as much as you do. But for now we have to wait". Irvin said, he never wanted to wait but for this he had to. He never liked Thomas too much be even he didn't want this.

   "Why do people kill each other"? All three looked up and saw Fiona saying this. She was a strange girl, trying to hope a world would come where there was no violence. None of them knew much about Zodians, all they knew was what they saw in Fiona.

  Van decided to answer first. "Some people are monsters, they don't care about anything or anybody. They do what they want and never feel remorse".

  The next thing Fiona said had everybody thinking. "Does that mean you're a monster Van."

   Van's jaw dropped, he would never expect Fiona to say that, but she did, and he knew she was right. "I guess I am." He said that in a low voice, head down, and thinking.

   "Commander Flyheight." A man said walking into the room. "My name is general Freeman, I'm very sorry about your friend but something very bad has just happened."

   They all looked at the general, and thought about how a bad day might just get worse.

   "Thank you general, but what happened that's so bad." Van was nervous, he hated it when Generals said something bad.

   "Mr. Raya will tell you it. He's in charge of one of the most secure prisons on Zi. Mr. Rayas would you mind telling him exactly what you told me."

   The short man walked up, very nervous and scared. He was sweating and shivering. Van became even more scared then before.

    "Yes, well let me see." Rayas said. "It's actually kind of funny to a point, but well."

    "Hurry up and tell us." Irvin shouted at the man.

    Rayas looked at him and began to speak slowly. "About a month and a half ago, we found Raven's body, but he wasn't dead like we thought."

     The second the four heard the words Raven wasn't dead, they all basically wanted to kill that man.

     "We took him into are prison secetrly, as a matter of fact, even Prince Rudolph didn't even know about, we kept him alive to see if we could find out anything about the GenoBreaker, like how it evolved. But last night, he was able to escape. A large man broke into the prison, killed 17 guards, and broke Raven free". The man stepped back, expecting them to yell and beat him to death. But they all just stood there.

     Van remembered when he said he was kind of sad Raven was killed, and he took it all back. "I can't believe you people are stupid enough to keep Raven alive. Now we have to sit here and risk are necks to stop him because you wanted to help make your armies better. Tell me Mr. Rayas, did you get the information you wanted."

      The short man shook his head in shame. "No".

      "I don't believe this." Moonbay said. "Why does this always happen. Why can't we get a break."?

      Van got up and started walking towards the door. "I'm going to make sure he doesn't get out alive again. Raven has killed to many people and needs to be stopped." 

      Fiona started to follow but Van turned to her. "Listen Fiona, don't come with me for this, you don't need to risk your life for something that doesn't have anything to do with you. Basically I don't want you hurt because of me."

      Fiona stared at him, but she couldn't understand him sometimes. He always thought about others before himself. "Please come back unhurt Van." 

      Van smiled. "I will, don't worry." He hugged Fiona and started to walk away.

      "Want me to come Van?" Irvin asked.

      "No, I want to do this myself." Van replied quickly.

      As he walked out the hospital and towards a jeep, he was trying to understand why this happened. It always seemed to happen to the people he cared about, he needed to stop it for good. Raven didn't have his GenoBreaker so it wouldn't be as hard as last time. He walked over to his Blade Liger, looking for Zeek. "Lets go Zeek, Ravens back, and we need to stop him."

      Zeek gave out a little roar. "That's right, it's just me and you pal."

      As Van closed to cockpit, he took one more look at the city, hopping he could keep his promise to Fiona. The Blade Liger began to move quickly to the place Raven was seen heading with the strange man, who had broken into a prison, kill 17 guards, and walked away without a scratch. As Van thought about it more, he decided that this would be harder then he thought.

        "Their here, at the hospital." Marcus said to the strange man. "But Van just left alone in his Blade Liger."

        "Damn, why are we moving so slow." Drake will have those Zoids before we can even catch up with them." The man was trying to come up with any kind of idea. "Lets find out where he went. Distract those guards, I'll get into the room."

       "Got it". Marcus walked over to the guards and put his hand over his head. "You guys have to help me, my head, I can' feel it, help me come on." The guards looked at the man as if he was crazy, took him to a doctor for some help.

        "Idiot." The man said. He walked over to the room where Thomas was at and opened the door.

        "Who the hell are you." Irvin asked.

        "Doesn't matter, where's Van?" He asked.

        They all looked at him, not knowing who he was. "Why would we tell you, we don't even know you"? Moonbay said.

        "Either you tell me or this will get very, very nasty." As he said that he pulled a dagger from his pocket and pointed it at Fiona. "Ok girl, you first."

        She looked at him, she felt an evil coming from him but couldn't tell why. "I'm not going to let you hurt Van. Besides, I don't think your going to hurt us."

        The man looked at her, and put his dagger away. "Ok, fine. The truth it will be. Van's in trouble, and I mean more trouble then you could even imagine." 

        "Don't bet on that, he's been in a lot of trouble before." Irvin interrupted.

     The man gave a little smile, reached into his pocket and pulled out the Red Amulet. When he did this, Fiona's eyes widened, and then she fainted.

     "Fiona!" Moonbay screamed, bringing the guards over.

     "Who are you, get out your not supposed to be here." 

     The man turned, smiled, and then ran through the window, falling onto a firescape.

     "Couple of crazy people today." One of the guards said.

     Moonbay didn't pay much attention to what just happened, she was trying to revive Fiona. She was unconscious for a few minutes, but them slowly woke up. 

    "Hey girl, what happened."? Moonbay said.

    "That crystal he had, it was evil." She was having a hard time talking. "I saw something, people dying, begging for death to come. I also saw a Zoid, destroying lives." She knew something wasn't right. "We have to find Van."

   Moonbay and Irvin where in a bit of shock from what Fiona said, but they quickly got themselves together.

     "Ok me and you will go Fiona. Moonbay, stay here and watch Thomas." Irvin went out the door.

      "Got it." Moonbay said. "Hey Fiona, be careful." Moonbay said smiling.

      Fiona smiled back. "You to."

      Raven looked around, he and Drake where in a cave, going to get some Zoids Drake said he had.

     "This has been my home since I was born." He smiled. "I hate it here".

     Raven looked at the giant. Breaking into the prison was not easy, but he had gotten in with no problem. There was something about him he didn't like, but Raven wasn't stupid, he wasn't going to try beating this guy, at least for now. "So what kind of Zoids are they."

      Drake smiled. "The Zoids you hate the most."

      Raven hated all Zoids so he didn't understand it. They walked till they came to a door, Drake opened and Raven gasped. "Two Blade Liger, no wonder you said the Zoid I hate the most."

      "This is temporary, when we find the Black Zoids, we will never need to change." Drake said that in a very evil way. "Were going to split up, but in three nights, the two moons of Zi will be aligned and full. The map will be drawn, and we will have are desires achieved." 

     Raven didn't understand a thing he meant, but he figured he would soon enough. "So where do I go for now."

     "What you have been wanting to do for a long time, kill Rudolph. I have some payback to give, I don't want help."

     Raven smiled. He had wanted to kill Rudolph, just as much as he wanted to kill Van. "Lets go Shadow, its time we had are vengeance." Raven climbed into the Blade Liger and so did Drake. Raven hated this Zoid and it would be destroyed if Drake were telling the truth. The thought of an unbeatable Zoid thrilled Raven. He looked at Drake, and waited for him to tell him where he had to go in three days.

     "Here's the coordinates, remember meet me there in three days." Drake looked around, he knew of only one Amulet, and he would get it. He killed his mother, father, sister, and would soon kill his brother for it. "I hate those people." He said to himself, oh how he hated them all.

       "So how did it go." Marcus asked.

       "The girls a Zodian, that's for sure. Look over there." Irvin and Fiona were going to the Lighting Siaex. "Going to look for Flyheight, that's my guess."

      "And what do we do?" Marcus asked again.

      "Beat them to him." The strange man smiled and started walking to a wooded area. There stood two Zoids. They were a Sabertiger, which belonged to Marcus, and a strange Zoid that looked like a Liger with no weapons. "Lets get moving."

      As Marcus got his Zoid operating, he turned on his comm. "You said you knew she was a Zodian, how the hell could you know that."

     "Because, when I showed her the Amulet, she had sensed its evil, and sensed what it could do." The man pulled out the Amulet of Fire and stared at it. "Poor girl doesn't know how right she is."

     The two Zoids began racing off as fast as they could, hoping to find Van before someone much deadlier them either of them did.


	5. Horror's of Sacrifice

Authors Note: Not many reviews so I'm going to guess my story are kind of boring. I'll keep working on it though and keep the people who do like happy and maybe add some new people.

Chapter 5:  Horrors of Sacrifice

     He sat there in his Zoid, trying to pull out the pieces of glass stuck in his arm and shoulder. "That has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever done." He thought to himself. His arm was red from blood, but he did what he had to do. If he had let the guards take him he would have been slowed down to a point where it would be to late.

     "You ok there." Marcus asked.

     "I'll live. At least were making decent time." At least he hoped that was the case.

     "Maybe, you know about Raven escaping right." Marcus said into the comm.

     "Yea, what about him." The man said.

     "You think he's working with Drake, or it's just a coincidence."

     He thought about that question. "Yea, I would think so. He needs two more pilots, and Raven is good, but what the hell is Drake up to, he should know Van and Raven wont fight on the same side. And those two are the best there is." 

      "Maybe he isn't after Van, but then who would he be after. He's going to kill both of us when he finds us, so it's neither of us." Marcus never understood Drake, no one really could. He killed and killed and would never stop. He didn't want the planet or the galaxy. He wanted to see people suffer and die. That is what separated him from every other insane madman.

     "Let's keep moving, if we fall behind again we wont get another shot at this." 

      Marcus agreed and got his Zoid going at top speed.

      Drake waited, knowing Van Flyheight would be coming. He had a very good sense of what people would do. Raven would finish the Prince, Drake would finish Van, and his plan would have no flaws, even though it was going on for nearly 20 years. "Soon Flyheight, you will meet your greatest challenge, and you will meet the fate all people have when they cross me." Drake laughed a bit. He had patience, he had waited 20 years to get the Black Zoids, and he would have them in just 3 short days. All he needed was one more pilot. Van was a choice, but there was also another, and if Van gave Drake a challenge he would use Van, but if not, well such is the game he plays to win.

     Gunshots were coming from all around, but Raven moved to fast to get hit. "Pathetic, I was hoping Rudolph's personal guards would be better then this." He said this as his blade sliced through two Iron Kong's. "Well that's all, time to finish the job." As he moved the Zoid he saw a Reno's scream across the sky. It was Fiola taking Rudolph with her. "So the chase goes on, I'll enjoy this." The Blade Liger gave chase to the Reno's, knowing it would only be a matter of time.

     Van splashed some water on his face. He had to take a break, he had been traveling for half a day and had no sleep at all last night. "Come on Raven, I know your around, show your self." Van heard a noise on the other side of some trees, and saw what looked like a Liger of some sort. "Hmm, wonder who that is." Right after he said that the other Blade Liger fired 2 shots at him. "Oh man, he isn't friendly that's for sure. Lets go Zeek." Van jumped into the cockpit as Zeek jumped into the Blade Liger. "Well Zeek here we go."

    Drake smiled, he was right again. "Well, I finally get to meet the legendary Van Flyheight. Hopefully this will brighten up my day."

     The two Ligers stared at each other before they began to attack. There claws slashing at each other, trying to rip the other Zoid apart. Van began to use his weapons but this pilot wasn't normal. "Damn, this guy makes Raven look bad." Drakes Zoid turned on a dime, he was just playing with Van, knowing he couldn't lose. The two Zoids charged each other and ended up ramming in a massive impact that knocked both Zoids to the ground.

     "You ok Zeek." Van asked. Zeek gave the O.K. to keep fighting. "Well then, lets show him what we can really do." 

      Drake stared at the other Blade Liger, impressed by his skills. But Van couldn't win, Drake was too good. The Zoids began charging each other, Drake saw Van pull out the Blades. "Fool" Drake said, he pushed his thrusters but to his shock, Van kept his height. "How the hell did he do that."? The Blades nicked his ligers side. "Damn kid is better then I thought." He started his Zoid, bringing it to top speed.

       "Gotch ya." Van said when he nicked the other Blade Liger. Van saw the other Zoids making a charge, so he charged right at him. "Ok Zeek, lets finish this." Van was smiling till he saw the other Liger juke sharply and turned right on him.

       Drake smiled, he had Van. His Blade Liger began to fire at Van hitting him on the side, just like he knew he would. "Over" Drake said.

       "How is he so good." Van thought, getting his Liger up. "Alright Zeek, its time to quit being so easy on this guy. He's at least as good as Raven, maybe better." Van charged and made a quick jump, catching the other Zoid off guard and his Ligers claws ran right through his opponents back, but then, then enemy Liger did something he didn't think was possible.

       Drake slammed his Liger on it's side and pulled out the blades, cutting right through Van's Liger as it flew over him. He saw his opponent fall to the ground, and stay there.

       Van lay there, still as a rock, hanging on to dear life. He couldn't move, his Liger couldn't move, and Zeek wasn't answering his call. He had lost, Van was defeated for the first time in years.

        "It ends now kid". Drake said. He lifted his Zoids claw, and was ready to deliver the final blow, but before he could two Zoids rammed him with incredible speed. Drakes Zoid flew across the desert sand and landing hard.

        "How did you like that Drake?" The strange man said. "Bet it hurt."

        "Get Van out of here, ill hold of Drake for you to get enough time to escape." Marcus replied, he had no chance of living against Drake, but it was he or billions. 

        "Got it, good luck Marcus."

       "Thanks." Marcus smiled. "Payback time Drake."

        Drake got his Zoid up and saw someone running to Van's Zoid. But before he could do anything, his Zoid was getting blasted. He saw the Sabertiger doing it, and began to move in for the kill.

        The man ran over to Van's torn up Zoid, forcing the cockpit open. He saw Van, he was hurt bad, real bad. He unlatched him from his Zoid and took him to his Liger. "Hang on kid, this is going to get rough." He took a look at Marcus, he knew this was the last time he would see him.

      Drake moved fast, he watched as the Plain Liger moved away from the battle. "Ill get you later." He looked at the Sabertiger. Slowly weaving his way through the gunfire, he finally got up to the Zoid and sliced it in half with his blades.

      Marcus felt the impact of the hit and fell to the ground. He watched as Drake moved his Zoid back getting ready to charge. As the Zoid moved towards him, he made sure Van was out of there, he knew that kid and his girl were the last chance they had. As the Blade Liger raised its paw, the last thing Marcus saw in this world, was the claw of Drakes Blade Liger, rip right through his cockpit glass, slicing him and the head of his Zoid.

      Drake laughed as he cut the Sabertiger's head in half. "All who cross me suffer the same." He said. Looking around, he couldn't see that White Liger anywhere. He knew their plan, and it worked for now. He would find them, he always did. He smiled and his Zoid slowly began to walk away.

      Fiona was sitting behind Irvin when she had a strange feeling. "Something happened."

      Irvin looked back at her, knowing not to question her feelings. "Where at."

      "Straight, a few miles I think." She still felt the evil that stone had within it. It was painful to her. But it also seemed familiar to her, as if she had something to do with it before. She wasn't sure, right now all she wanted to do was find Van.

      Raven kept firing at the Reno's, finally hitting it. Watching it fall from the sky he ran towards what was left of it. Jumping out of his cockpit, he raced towards the Zoid, only to find nothing in it. "Damn it, where is he." Looking around, he didn't have the answer. He was angry, he would find Rudolph and his parents, and when he did. They would die. He got back into the cockpit, "lets go Shadow, we have work to do." The Zoid raced off, fast and angry, just like its pilot.

     Van sat up as fast as he could, but only to find his head bandaged and his arm in a sling. "Bout time you woke up, figured you would have gotten up a few hours ago." Van looked at the man, looking around him. They were in a heavy forest, the two moons full and almost together. "Where am I?" he asked. 

        "I don't know, just found a safe place and decided to stay here a bit." The man said.

         Van looked and saw a White Liger, just sitting there. "What happened, and who are you."

          The man looked at him. "You were in a battle with a man named Drake, got whipped, and fell to the ground. As for my name, don't worry about it." He walked over to poke a fire he made.

        Van looked at him, remembering the battle and then something else. "Zeek!" He yelled, "Where's Zeek." 

         "Don't know, it was in bad shape when I saw it, didn't have time to save you and the Organoid. My friend held him off as long as he could, course against Drake, you can't last long." The man lowered his head, he was already missing Marcus, but he had lost many people he cared about before, all to the same creature that thinks he's a human.

          "Who is Drake anyways."? Van asked, wondering why this man hated him so much.

          "Same person who shot your friend at the city." Van interrupted him with a loud yell.

         "What! that's the same guy who shot Thomas", Van got up and started walking to the Zoid.

         "And where are you going kid." The man asked.

         "Payback, he try's to kill my friend, then I kill him." 

         "You couldn't beat him before, what makes you think you can beat him now. He's the best there is, he has no remorse, no feelings, no care. He plays a game, and he plays to win. If you go after him now you ruin the last chance this planet will ever have. You, me your friends, the people you love, they will all die if you go after him."  
         Van stopped, wanting to find out what he meant by that. 

          "Got your attention, didn't I. He's killed people we care about, and doesn't give a damn, he hates it when he people blame somebody's death on another reason then because he killed them. Walk away now, go try to kill him, watch how fast we all die."

        Van lowered his head, tears coming down his cheek, trying to understand all of this. "And how can one man kill us all." Van said that in a sobbing voice.

        The man pulled out the Amulet of Fire in his pocket. "In this gem right here, is all the power of a Zoid that cant be beat. There are 2 more like it, each one going with a different Zoid. Drake found this at my parent's house, he killed my mother and then killed my father a few years later, all to take this amulet. When I found out what is was for, I did all I could to take it back, and I did. He's killed everyone in my family except one. Drake is cold hearted, he takes what he wants and kills all who try to prevent it. He needs one more pilot, I thought it was you but after he tried to kill you I doubt it. Now make your choice, but make it quick so I can plan either way."

        Van stood there, thinking about all this man who saved him said. Staring at the Amulet he could sense something, and it was evil. He thought about Fiona, Irvin, and Moonbay. He was hoping Thomas was still alive. He hated what was happening to his life. His friends always in danger, the planet always threatened. He was tired of it, but knew he couldn't stop. If what this guy were saying turns out to be true, then he wouldn't let any suffer because of him. "Ok, I'm with you. What's first."?

      The man smiled. "We need to salvage your Zoid, after that we'll figure it out. Lets go."

       Van and the stranger walked to the White Liger. As it began to move Van thought about his friends again, he wouldn't let anything happen to them, he felt the pain of losing Thomas, he wouldn't let it happen to all of them, especially Fiona.

        As Irvin and Fiona arrived at the site, they saw two Zoids on the ground, both damaged badly. "There's Vans Liger." Irvin said. "You check that out, ill take a look at the Sabertiger."

      Fiona nodded. As she ran over she saw Zeek lying on ground. "Zeek, are you ok." He gave a slight moan, but got up. As he did she heard Irvin.

      "Oh God." Irvin saw what was left of a man, torn to pieces. "Don't come over here Fiona, its not something you want to see."

      Fiona began to look for Van, ignoring Irvin. But he was nowhere around. "Where is he at Zeek." The Organoid told her a man came and rescued him. Again, she nodded.

      Zeek got up, and looked at the torn up Blade Liger. He knew what he had to do.

      As Irvin looked around some more, a pink light flashed near the Blade Liger, then to his surprise, he saw something he didn't think would happen again. 

       The Blade Liger became wrapped in a cocoon, it was undergoing a second Evolution. 

       "I'll be damned, just wait till Van sees this." Irvin thought. He walked up and took a seat. He didn't know a Zoid had a third evolution. Fiona always surprised everybody she met. Looking at the shattered Sabertiger, he knew something bad was happening. Thomas was shot, some weird man jumped out a window after showing something to Fiona. They found out Raven was alive. And now two Zoids lay in total ruins, with a pilot ripped apart. It wasn't good, but maybe this new Liger would help things out. But things couldn't get any worse. 

       Raven destroyed the last of the Zoids, he saw the prince with his parents. Raven jumped out of the cockpit and walked over to him. "Well you highness, it appears I wasn't dead after all. A shame." Raven pulled out a knife and cut the throat of one of the guard in front of Rudolph. "Now, you get what you deserve." 

       Rudolph tried to run, but there was no place to go. As Raven walked towards him, he was hoping Van would come and help him like he has before. But he wasn't as luck this time. Raven walked over, grabbed him by the hair, pulled his head back and cut his throat like he did the guards. Rudolph fell to the floor, blood on the floor, and his life slowly dying away.

       He had already killed Rudolph's parents, they tried to defeat him in combat with Zoids, but they fell quickly. 

       Raven, like the man who had freed him, felt no remorse when it came to killing in cold blood, even if it was a child. He walked to his Zoid. And went in the cockpit. He wanted to kill two more people before he was truly happy. Van and Fiona would die just like the prince of the Empire. He saw the young body, he was still alive, but not for long. Raven smiled, and his Zoid ran off.


	6. Ultimate Evolution

Chapter 6: Ultimate Evolution

       Drake stood there on the edge of the cliff, miles away from Irvin and Fiona, watching them like an eagle watches its prey. The pink cocoon began to form around the Blade Liger, making one of the few Zoids ever to reach it's Ultimate Evolution. "The kid must be better then I thought." Drake smiled. Raven was useless to him, a tool for now till he had the two pilots he wanted. Drake looked into the sky, watching the stars and the moons. He smiled again. "There almost aligned, only two more nights, and ill have the path to the Zoids." 20 years Drake had waited, planning his moves to perfection, killing all he needed to kill. Yes, soon his time would come. The planet would suffer like it did 3,000 years ago, but with one difference. It lasted for only 5 years when the three men created the Zoids, it would last an eternity for him. No one except him understood the true power the Zoids had. Armies would fall, civilizations would die, and leaders will fade away. He was the last Zodian except for the girl. Drake laughed. Only Zodians understood power and death. Drake mastered both, but he would be tested. Anybody, especially a kid, who could bring out a Zoids Ultimate Evolution, was something special, something dangerous, something challenging. He had never had a true Zoid fight till he fought that kid today, he did win fairly easy, but he had to push. Drake saw the White Liger approach the area. One more time he smiled, turned around, and walked off.

      "Hey, uhh sir." Van said, not knowing the strangers name. "There's a massive power reading Northwest of us, about 3 miles." 

      The man looked at his gauges. "There is, that's where your Zoid got destroyed."

      Van nodded. It took only a few more second for them to see the pink glow in the night. Van couldn't believe what he saw. There in the middle of the desert, a Zoid was evolving. 

       "I don't believe it." The man said, looking at the pink cocoon. "Your Zoids evolving."

       Van looked at him. "Can't be, the Blade Liger already evolved, no Zoid has a third form." At least, he didn't think so.

       "Well kid, that Zoid does." The man smiled. "Ultimate Evolution."

       Van looked at him, puzzled and confused. "What's that."?

        He turned to him. "When the pilot and the Zoid have reached there potential, the Zoid brings out it last bit of energy into a new form. An Organoid can sense when the pilot has reached his or hers potential, then the Organoid permanently fuses with the Zoid, making it like two Zoids in one. Of course that's just a guess, Iv never seen it before."

        Van thought about it, couldn't believe it. "That means Zeek will be gone for ever, doesn't it.?"

         "Who the hell is Zeek?" The stranger said.

         "My Organoid." Van didn't want to lose Zeek, he had been his friend since he found him next to Fiona.

         "Yea, I guess so, but your Organoid wouldn't be doing it if he didn't think you were ready."

          Van smiled, making him feel a little better. They White Liger came up to the evolving Blade Liger and stopped.

           Irvin got up from his nap taking a look at the White Liger, ready to jump in his Lighting Siaex if necessary. But then he saw Van jump out and sat back down. "Hey Van, how you doing."

           Van smiled. "What does it look like."? 

           Irvin saw the bandages on his head and the sling on his arm. "Look fine to me." Then Irvin saw another man come out of the White Liger, and it was the same man who jumped out the window. "You!" he screamed.

           The man saw Irvin coming towards him and got ready to throw a punch if he had to. 

            "Slow down Irvin, this guy saved my life, I kind of owe him." Van said.

            Irvin stopped, and backed away. "Fine, you're the boss."

            "How do you guys no each other anyways?" Van said, looking at the stranger.

            "He walked in, showed some type of stone to us, made Fiona faint and had her wake up talking about death and evil, then jumped out the window."

             The man laughed. "Yea, well. If those guard wer…." He stopped in the middle of his sentence, looking at his friends Sabertiger. "Damn." Is all he said.

              "You know that Zoid?" Irvin asked.

              "Yea, my friend was in it trying to buy me some time to get out with Van. Worked, but he lost. But I had already known it." He walked over to the cockpit and saw what was left of his friend, torn up and ripped in half from Drakes Blade Liger. He began to dig up some sand, making a small grave to put his friend in.

              "We all seem to be losing people this week." Van said, in a voice that sounded sad.

              "Yea, shame we don't know who it is." Irvin replied slowly.

               Van remembered the name the stranger said. "Yes we do." He paused for a moment looking at the stranger unlatching his friend's body from the Zoid and gently putting it in the shallow grave he dug. "Drake."

               "Who's Drake?" Irvin asked.

               "Don't worry about it." Van gave him a mad look.

               Irvin didn't question, he knew if Van didn't want to talk, he couldn't do anything to make him talk. "Fiona's over by the Liger, cant believe it's evolving again. Didn't think it was possible."

             Van looked over there and saw Fiona sleeping, he decided not to wake her. The man had finished filling the grave and began to walk over to them. "Sorry about your friend." Van told him.

            "He knew what he was doing, it's a fate we all suffer sooner or later. Warriors like us feel it sooner, the people we fight to protect later." The man looked at the massive pink cocoon around the Blade Liger. "How long did it take to evolve into the Blade Liger?"

           "Two days." Van said.

           "Great, that slows us down."

           "From what, where are we going?" Irvin asked.

           "To the Ruins of the Sleeping Zodians." The man said, remembering that place all to well.

           "Where's that?" Van asked, wondering what he meant by the sleeping Zodians.

           The man began to walk over to his Zoid. "Same place you found Fiona and Zeek. Same place I found Drake. Same place where the other two Amulets are."

           They both knew about the Amulets, Irvin heard it from Fiona, Van from the stranger. But they didn't know what he meant by the same place he found Drake, but they figured not to ask.

           "Lets get some sleep, it's going to be a long day tomorrow." The man said, laying on the floor next to his Liger. They slept fairly well for the first time in days.

           Moonbay was asleep, same with Thomas brother Karl. "Hey there Moonbay." She thought she was dreaming but woke up anyways to see Thomas sitting up in his bed. "Thomas!" she screamed, happy to see him alive. Karl also woke up, glad to see his younger brother all right.

            "Glad to see your alive Thomas." Karl said. "Didn't think you would make it there for a while."

            "I'm tougher then you. You should already know that by now." Thomas replied jokingly.

           Karl smiled. "Maybe you are." 

            "So where's everyone else, I cant wait to see Fiona again." Thomas tried to get up but Moonbay put her hand on his shoulder, keeping him on his bed.

           "They think Van got in some trouble so they went looking for him. I'm sure he's alright same with the rest of them." She smiled at him, she was so happy to see Thomas alive again.

          "Oh." Thomas said, looking over to see the window broken. "What happened with the window?" He asked.

         "So nutcase ran through it and onto the firescape. Kind of a weird man, he had Fiona faint and started talking about how evil a crystal he had was. I don't know, I'm just glad to see you alright."

         Thomas smiled, he was glad to be alive. "Maybe I should help them look for Van."

         "No you better stay here, they'll find him don't worry." Moonbay told him.

         "Major Karl Schubaltz." A man walked in, with his head down. "I have some very terrible news. His majesty, Price Rudolph, was killed. His throat was slit, we believe by Raven."

          "You have got to be joking!" Moonbay shouted, tired of all these people she cared about getting killed. "What the hell is going on."?

            Both Karl and Thomas began to tear. There leader, so young and so caring was dead because of a monster. "How could he do that?" Thomas said. "Monster." "And when did Raven come back to life anyways?" he asked.

          Moonbay looked at him. "He was never dead, and some guy came and freed him from the prison he was in. Now they're going to see what a mistake that was." She ran out the room, she had to contact Irvin and tell him what just happened.

          Van woke up when he heard a buzz in Irvin's cockpit. He walked over and punched up the screen. "Hey there Moonbay." He said, not fully awake yet.

        "Glad to see your ok Van, listen Rudolph's dead." 

         Van felt his heart drop out of his body. "Why, who."

         "They said Raven did it. Most likely because he had been part of the reason he lost."

         Van couldn't believe it, the little kid he cared for like a brother was dead. Van put his fingers over his eyes. "Why did this happen." He said softly.

         "Thomas is alive, so I did have some good news." She said, trying to cheer him up.

         "Makes me feel a little better." Van lied, he was glad Thomas was alive, but losing Rudolph was like losing his father. 

        "You ok Van." Irvin said.

       Van looked up and saw Irvin, Fiona, and the stranger all standing outside the cockpit. "Ill talk with you later Moonbay."

        "Ok." She said, ending the connection.

        Van looked at them, trying to find words. But he said what he could. "Rudolph, hes…hes.. dead. Raven killed him."

         None could believe it, especially Fiona. The little kid they had helped many times before was dead. Fiona began to cry again.

         Irvin lowered his head and walked away, Fiona dropped to the desert floor, tears coming out of her eyes. Another dear friend of hers died, by the same man, for the same reasons. She hated some people, they were monsters, so heart, no soul, and no remorse. All they wanted was death and suffering. 

         Van climbed out of the Lighting Siaex and began to walk away, and the man followed him. "I'm sorry for your friend, I never wanted anybody to die for this." He said, trying to help Van, but he wasn't any good at helping.

         "He was only 12 years old, Raven killed a child, and Drake encouraged it. He didn't deserve to die like." The man interrupted him.

         "No one deserves to be murdered, no one deserves to die. Faith is the greatest killer of all, once it has you it will kill you. Your friend knew the risk of leading a faction, and he suffered the ultimate price for his followers."

          "Go to hell." Van said, watching, as the man got ready to rip Vans head off. "Ever since you have gotten involved, everybody I care about is either dead, dying, or suffering. You came here telling me how you can help us by stopping Drake but all you have done is let Thomas get shot, let your friend die, and let Rudolph die. If you and Drake weren't here I could have saved him, I hate you, this is your fault." Van never said anything like that to anybody, but he was mad and didn't care what happened.

          The man walked over to him and grabbed his head. "Listen kid, I never wanted to get anybody involved in this, I didn't choose you, Drake did. He's doing all of this to screw with your head, and so far he's done a damn good job." The man pointed to the torn up Zoid. "My friend died because he knew his one life could save millions. He wanted to keep life alive, 1 death is a tragedy, 100 deaths is madness, the death of a planet is extinction. He didn't want every single being on this planet killed so he took his life to save yours and give us a better shot at stopping this man who wants to see people suffer like you are right now." He then pointed over at the grave he dug, and then over to Fiona. "I'm not going to lecture about how brave men don't run and how cowards don't stay. You leave now, if you quit what you have started, then Drake will pick your friends like he was shooting bottles. Rudolph gave his life for his people, he died because he knew Raven would leave the Empire alone he had killed him. You can't bring a dead man back, I wish you could but you can't. Respect all he did for you, and respect what you did for him. See your Zoid, it's turning into one of the most powerful Zoids ever, because of you, because you respected it, because you respected your friends. If you run, you might live and the same with your friends, and if you stay you might die and the same with your friends. But either way you will all die someday, same with me. But would you rather die in a week and let a planet keep on living then live for a few more years until Drake has his way and kills us all anyways." He let Van go, this kid was his last hope of killing Drake, same with his friends. He knew he couldn't lose him.

           Van thought about it, and finally understood what this man was talking about. He looked at Irvin and then Fiona, he was right they would all die anyways. He only had seen Drake in a Zoid fight but that's all he needed to tell he was mad. The stranger put out a hand and helped Van up. He didn't say anything, he just walked over to the smashed up Sabertiger and leaned up against it. He saw the blood from the man who let him live. Van hated people like Drake, people who craved death and chaos, he hated Raven for killing Rudolph, but he hated him even more for doing it because of Van. Drake and Raven were going to die, he promised that. And Van knew, he always kept a promise.

           Raven was at the ruins Drake told him to meet him at. He didn't trust Drake, and he didn't like Drake. But for now, he would work with him, he wanted to see if he told the truth about the Zoids. "Well Shadow, if that madman is right, we wont have to worry about losing again." He smiled. On the horizon, he saw a Blade Liger coming. It was Drake. "It's about time."

          Drake smiled. "I told you, you didn't have to come for 2 more nights."

          Raven heard him but he didn't care what he said. "The beloved prince is dead, the brat got what he deserved."

          "Good, that will, slow them down." Drake laughed. "Time is coming my friend, are dreams will be come reality. The Zoids will all be dead for you." Drake smiled, "And all humanity will be dead for me."

          Raven looked at him, watching as Drake pulled a gun on him. "Well, so your even crazier then I thought. You freed me to kill Rudolph, that's it."

         "To a point." Drake took aim at Ravens heart, but before he could fire Shadow came a knocked the gun out of Drakes hand. 

         "Lets go Shadow, well deal with him later." Shadow obeyed, but when Raven heard Drake laugh he turned around at saw Drake, staring at them, not going for the gun or charging them. Just standing there, giving that evil laugh and dark look. He was evil, more evil then Raven could ever be, Raven went to his Zoid and got out of there as fast as he could. Raven knew this man had to be destroyed, no matter how low he had to go.

          As Drake watched the Zoid go off he walked into the ruins, there he opened up a box. Inside were the other two Amulets. The Amulet of Air and the Eye of the Tiger. Drake was close to what he wanted. His race had been destroyed years ago, and only two existed. "This planet was meant for my race, not these damn governments. They will all die slowly". Looking in the shadows of the night, he saw the bodies of the children he killed. They were the Zodians that were supposed to be used to help restore there race, but Drake wouldn't allow it. He spared only one, his sister. He grabbed the amulets, and walked to his Zoid, they were going to have Rudolph's funeral tomorrow, he wanted to see it, it would be, entertaining. Two more nights, the map would be drawn, the Zoids would be his, and life would die on Zi, and it would never come back. He loved that thought.


	7. Farewell My Friend

Chapter 7: Farewell My Friend

          The entire Guardian Force stood there at the edge of the street, watching as the troops of the Empire slowly marched along. It was the funeral for Rosso, Fiola, and Rudolph. Van looked around, saw some people mourning, some in shock, some wishing this never happened, some with a little of all those, Van one of them. Thomas and Karl stood there, their heads high and proud but he could see their eyes watery, but he didn't care. Moonbay and Irvin watched, trying to understand what has been happening the last few days. Van had his arm around Fiona, who was crying on his chest. She was heartbroken after losing a very good friend and almost losing another. Van was still hurting from his injuries, but they were the least of his troubles. He looked at the stranger, he was on his left knee, mumbling a prayer. Van couldn't hear it. Two days ago all of them were being celebrated for saving the Empire and Republic, now they were saying goodbye to one of their greatest leader and his brave parents. A few minutes later, he saw their bodies, lying under a white silk blanket. All their leaders were honored like this after death, but few were respected like these three were. They had saved Van and Fiona's lives more times then he wanted to count. They had helped him defeat Raven and his GenoBreaker. Because of that they were dead. He looked back at Thomas, he knew how close he had been to dying, Van was glad somebody lived out of this. He heard the troops fire their rifles in salute to their fallen leader. He listened to some conversions of people around him. Some asked, "Why did he die so young." Others said, "Now who's taking it over." Van looked across the street and saw a familiar face. It was Rosa, Fiola's younger sister. He tried to smile but nothing happened, same thing with her. He hated people who did this. Taking life for no reason, and people like Raven and Drake who enjoyed it. It made him sick. He let go of Fiona and started to follow the last of the troops. Fiona, Karl, and Thomas also came with him. Moonbay, Irvin, and the stranger stayed behind.

        Nobody was smiling in that city, except one. The only man who could come up with a smile after something like this happened. Drake stood there behind the crowd. Watching people cry over their fallen leader. Drake was loving every moment of this. He saw his targets walk off after the dead bodies. His plan was working, he knew it would. He had to keep moving though, around his neck where the two Amulets he had. He knew who had the third one, and he would get it today. He smiled, and then walked down the alley that was right behind him.

        Raven stood there, watching Drake move back into the alley. He didn't want to work with Drake, and after what he did he wanted to make sure he was dead. For the first time though, Raven felt remorse for what he did. He was wishing he never killed Rudolph. Drake had played him, he knew that man was good at it. When Drake was gone he looked over at Van, he would have to work with him if they wanted to beat Drake. That thought made Raven fill with rage but Drake was his main enemy now. Van would have to wait. "Come Shadow." Raven walked back off the roof, his Organoid following the command of his master. Raven and Van working together, something he never thought would cross his mind.

          Van, Fiona, Thomas, and Karl all stood there in the Royal Tomb. It was where all the leaders of the Empire would end up some day. Van stood there over Rudolph, looking at his lifeless body. It was a sight that scared him. He remembered that little boy the day he met him. Van smiled for the first time in days. He also remembered the last time he saw him, it was when Van was being honored as a hero. He pulled out the medal Rudolph gave him and put it around his neck and smiled. "Now I owe you everything." He still couldn't believe this happened, but he felt better about it. Drake and Raven would regret this.

        Drake stood there smiling at the guards in front of the tomb.

        "Listen buddy, your not allowed in there, got it." The guard said, "Now turn around before I shoot you."

       Drake lifted both of his massive hands and threw them around both guard's necks. He began to squeeze the life out of each of them. "What's the matter, cant shoot any more." He laughed as they slowly died. He began to drag their bodies down in the tomb with him.

        Van and his friends turned around to leave, but what they saw at the entrance was the biggest man they had ever seen, and in his huge hands where the lifeless bodies of the guard at the entrance. Van already knew who it was. "So you finally had the guts to show your self." 

         Drake smiled, throwing the bodies to the side. "A few more people for you to cry about hope you don't mind."

         "Who is this guy?" Thomas asked, looking a little worried.

         "Drake." Fiona said, shocking everybody except Drake himself.

         "That's the creep who shot me." Thomas charged him but the man moved out of the way easily, and then threw a punch, sending Thomas flying a few feet back and holding his jaw.

         "Usually I kill my targets, guess I'll have to finish off the job." 

         Van and Karl both charged the man, but it was useless. He threw them around like they were dolls. He was to big and to strong for them.

           He went over for Thomas, griping his neck and chocking the life out of him like he did the guards. Van picked up a handgun from one of the guards and aimed it at Drake. 

           "Let him go." Van ordered. Aiming for Drakes head.

           He began to laugh. "You think that scares me kid." 

           Van fired, but Drake was too quick. He ducked and charged Van, tackling him back against the wall, breaking him shoulder in two.

           Drake heard the pop and threw him on the ground, watching Van scream in pain. Karl and Thomas tried to take the monster down, but they did nothing. Drake picked up the handgun Van had and aimed it at Thomas, he smiled. The next thing Drake knew he was on the ground, looking up he saw Raven and Shadow. He got up instantly, staring at Raven. "I let you live kid, should have taken the rare chance."

         Raven smiled. "You played me like a fool, you don't do that with me. Kill him Shadow." Shadow went for Drakes face with his tail, but he caught it, and slammed the Organoid into the ground. "That was fun."

         Raven drew a knife and tried to cut Drake with it, but he jumped back and caught Raven's arm. But before he could do anything he was on the ground holding the back of his head.

         Fiona had hit him with a broken piece of concrete. She looked around and saw all of them in pain. 

         "You little bitch." Drake screamed, grabbing her hair and putting a knife to her throat, but he let her go. Drake walked out of the tomb, kicking Raven in the ribs on the way out. "Your lucky Fiona, I still do have a heart." He walked out. Dropping his knife on the ground.

        "You alright kid?" The stranger asked. "Lived against Drake, that's a first." He looked at Fiona, trying to figure out he left her alone. Maybe he didn't want to kill the only other Zodian there was. He didn't know.

        "I feel terrible." Van said. He looked up and saw Raven staring at him. "And what's with you, changing sides all of a sudden."

         "He saved you and the brother's lives Van." Moonbay said, surprised she actually said that.

         Raven walked out of the room, not knowing what to do.

          "Why did he help me, he hates me." Van said, gasping in pain.

          "Quit talking, it's going to make your shoulder worse kid. He helped you cause Drake played him like the biggest fool there is, and he wants to get him back for it." The man replied.

         "Well forget it, I want him dead." Van said quickly.

         "No can do." The man said thinking of something good to say. "We need all the help we can get, if we stop Drake then it will be worth it. If not then he's dead anyways, along with me, you, Fiona, Moonbay." Irvin cut him off.

         "We get it ok, this guy's right Van, we need help. He nearly killed you guys with his bare hands, there's no way he's one of the regular people we go after." Irvin looked over at Raven standing outside the room. "Though we will have to watch him."

         "Why didn't he kill us, he had the chance?" Van asked. Still trying to learn how Fiona knew who Drake was. Maybe she was remembering something.

         "I dunno, he never leaves anybody living in a fight." The stranger looked over at Fiona, she was quit since what happened, he knew she was hiding something. "But as for Raven, I say we take him. He's good as you Van, and we need good pilots when fighting Drake. You should know that."

          Van did know that, but didn't want to admit it. He hated Raven, and as soon as this was done he would personally kill him. "Ok, well work with him until we beat Drake, but then I want him dead."

           As soon as he said that, Karl came in. "The Republic and Empire think this guy is extremely dangerous and have decided to work together and kill this guy before anything else happens. Tonight we have a briefing on what to do." He walked over to Van. "You still going to be able to fight." 

            "Have no choice, do I." He smiled.

             "Ok, your in command of Guardian Force, get to the military base at 1600 hours." He saluted.

            "Yes, sir." Van tried to salute but his shoulder hurt too much. He had a good feeling that this would work, but at the same time, he felt as if this was going to fail. He hoped it was the feeling that it would work.

           Drake slammed his hand on the console of his Zoid. "Damn it, why did I let them live." He couldn't believe he showed mercy because of Fiona. He knew he should have killed her, but what little heart he had would let him. "Damn." His plan had failed for the first time, but it was a minor failure. He still had the two Amulets and the third would be his shortly, when the map was drawn he would then have the three Zoids. All life would be gone in 2 short years he guessed. He stopped when he saw several Zoids appear. They were bandits, what fools. "Ok buddy, power down your Zoid and we might let you live." Drake smiled, he would redeem himself here, he brought out the blades and started to charge the Zoids, they had no chance.

          They all sat there at the table, the entire Guardian Force and a few elite members of the Republic and the Empire. They were there to try and stop a monster. Raven and the stranger were also there, but they stayed in the back.

        "Ok ladies and gentlemen, we have a very big crisis on are hands. A skilled and deadly madman has been out killing people including Price Rudolph and his parents. Based on the little info we have, we know he pilots a Blade Liger. Are best bet is to simply outnumber him and bring him down. Any questions." The general told them their main orders and objectives.

         "Fools." Raven said.

          The man looked at him. "That they are, damn politics, one reason Drake does what he does." He hated these kind of things, so did Raven, but they stayed and watched.

          The general looked at them but said nothing. He brought up a map for everybody to see. "From what we know, he should be in this area. If the Command Wolfs and Commander Flyheight go in for close range combat and Major Schubaltz uses his Iron Kong and Cannon Tortoises at long range, we should have him brought down in a few minutes."

           The man laughed. "You have got to be kidding me, your entire army combined couldn't beat Drake, and he is the best there is. You peo…" The general cut him off.

            "I don't know who you are and I don't care, but when you're in here you don't speak until I say you can speak, go it." 

            "Send your army in, watch it die, I don't care. I warned you." He stepped back and out of the room, Raven followed him.

            Drakes Blade Liger landed as he cut up the last Command Wolf. He didn't even have to work to win. He took his sword and got out of his Blade Liger. Looking around for any Bandits that lived, he found a few, and then he cut off there heads. "Let that be a lesson, only make a threat when you can back it up." He walked back to his Zoid and put his sword down. He started his Zoid and headed back to the ruins, one more night and he would have the map. He imagned what he would do when he had the first Zoid, and he loved it.

          "You don't like these people do you?" Van asked the man.

          "Nope, there idiots, watch how fast they die. Where's the other two, ummm, Moonbay and Irvin." He asked, hoping he got there name's right.

          "They went out to get some food." Van looked over at Fiona, she hadn't said a word since they met Drake. He walked over to her. "Are you alright Fiona?" He asked.

          She didn't answer or budge. She was deep in her thought, rembering Drake and his cold heart.

          "Fiona, you ok?" Van asked again.

           She looked at him. "No." Is all she said.

           Van walked back to his chair, not questioning anything Fiona said. "What about the Blade Liger, should we go see if it finished evolving." He asked, trying to bring something up.

           "Get some rest, you havn't had any sleep for a few days now." The man said. "Well go tommrow, before your troops get a death wish."

           They sat there quietly for a few seconds when a man walked in. "Who are you, the man asked."

          "Sorry he said, my name is Dr. Wagner. I'm a historian for the Republic." The man said, looking a little scared.

          "So why are you here?" Van asked.

          "Well, I found something out about the man your after." He said, seeming proud of himself.

          They all jumped up and got around him, looking at the book he had.

           "This text is in the old Zodian lauange, but what it says is this. We have hid the Zoids, but they killed my race to near death. The last chance we have is to take are children and put them in a long sleep, hoping they will revive them someday."

           They looked at him. The stranger spoke first. "The Ruins of the Sleeping Children, I know about that, so what's the big deal."

            "Well." The man said. "Let me finish, here. The monster named Drake will have to go with the children, he is evil but he can help. We tried to brainwash him but he was to strong. We put him in Suspended Animation anyways, because that would also help remove his memory, he would have to be the leader without bringing his cruelness with him. Are race must live on, we can not die because of the three Black Zoids." The man cleared his throat. "This was a diary of a man from about 3,000 years ago. I don't know anything about Black Zoids but this Drake might be the same guy."

            "It is, he had gotten out of his chamber early, so Drakes 3,000 years old." He already knew what this man said because he had read the same book before. 

             "Well, I hoped this helped, if anything else comes up I'll tell you." The man walked out quickly, wanting to leave that room.

            Fiona was looking out the window, watching the sunset and the moon's rise. She had seen the Black Zoids, but had forgotten about them until the stranger showed up, and showed her the amulet. She didn't want to see this happen again, but she had no control. Drake would have his way in the end, she knew it. She began to cry, Drake was her brother, and she wished he had never come back. He was a monster and cared about nobody, except her. She didn't want to tell Van, she didn't want to tell anybody. She never lied to Van but she had no choice now. If Drake found the Zoids, he would kill everyone on Zi. He was supposed to help them restore the Zodians, but instead he killed them. She was young when it happened but she remembered it clearly now. She didn't want anybody to feel it, her mother and father died because of those three Zoids. She sat in the bed next to Van, and fell asleep.

           Fiona had a nightmare that night. She saw a wall of flames all around her, and a huge man with a sword, it was her father, next to Fiona was her mother and newborn sister. On the other side of the fire though, she saw something evil. Two red eyes, stared at her, never moving, just staring. Then she saw her father fall to the ground, blood coming out of his back, Fiona tried to run out to him but her mother wouldn't let her. She heard another loud noise and saw her mother fall back to the sandy ground, along with her baby sister, both had blood pouring out of them. Fiona cried as she watched those evil eyes take shape. It was a Zoid, the Zoid that brought death to life. There stood the massive and powerful Tiger, Fiona sat there waiting for her turn to die, but the Tiger just turned around and walked off. 

         Fiona woke up, breathing hard and sweating. She knew it wasn't just a nightmare, it was what truly happened. She looked at Van, sleeping there with no worries, in the chair across the room sat the stranger who saved Van. She got out of bed and looked at the moons. To everyone but her, they were beautiful. She knew what they went. She looked at Van, she had caused him more trouble and would eventually be the end of him. She walked to the side of him, gently touched his cheek with the back of her and, and walked out the door. She wasn't coming back.


	8. Devil's Eve

Chapter 8: Devil's Eve

        He woke up, looking around the empty room, slouched in the chair he fell asleep in. He hadn't had much sleep in months, but it felt good to get a few hours. He got up and stretched, and went out the door. He looked around trying to find Van or Fiona, but he didn't see anybody. "Come on kid, where the hell are you." He finally found him, along with Moonbay, Irvine, Thomas and Karl. They all sat there, looking down at their cups. "Who died now?" He said, trying to figure out what was happening.

        "Fiona." Moonbay said.

         "Fiona's dead." He looked at her, shocked that she would be Drakes next victim.

        "No, just missing." Van said.

         "Oh, well that's ok I guess." Still trying to figure out what was going on.

         "Great. Are you mad or something." Thomas shouted at him.

         He looked at him with an angry face. "At time's yea, I can get very mad." He replied, trying to get Thomas to shut up. Thomas did, and sat back down.

        "Look, Fiona's done this before, I'm sure she's all right" Irvine said, trying to cheer Van up.

         "Yea." Van replied. "Anyone see Raven."

         They all shook their head, not surprised he was missing. 

         "Attention men." General Valen said. "We have to attack today, we found out where's he's hiding." 

         Van stood up. "Sir, if I may, my friend Fiona is missing and I thought maybe I should help look for her." Valen cut him off.

         "Talk to someone who cares Flyheight, right now we have to kill this guy before more end up dying." He pointed at Van while he said that. "Understand."

         "Yes, sir." That's all Van could say. He couldn't help but he knew a few people who could.

         "Good, now. We found at this man is hiding out in some ruins. We got this information from a risky source, but at this point we have no choice but to use it."

         The man smiled, he knew Raven told them.

          "Now, get to your Zoids and get ready to leave. We have 1 hour before launching." He looked over at Van. "Are you in good enough shape to fight, I see your shoulder got busted."

          Van thought about that, but the pain reminded him. "I will try sir." Van couldn't say no, besides the General knew Van couldn't pilot with a broken shoulder.

          "Very well, get something to eat and get to your Zoids." The General saluted them and walked out. 

           Van walked over to Irvine. "I need you to take me to the place where the Liger was evolving. It might be done."

           "You got it." Irvine replied, walking away.

            "Moonbay." Van called her over to talk with her. "I need you to look for Fiona, get that guy over there and." He thought for a second what he was about to say. "And take Raven if you want."

              She looked at him. "Raven, you must be desperate Van. I'll have to think about that, and as for looking sure." She smiled at Van and walked over to the stranger. "Ok, lets go."

            He looked at her. "Ok, where are we going?" He asked.

            "Van wants us to look for Fiona, you have any reason not to help." She replied, hoping he would say no so she wouldn't get stuck with Raven.

             "Well, uh yea. I need to do something for an hour or two. After that I can get out and help." He got up and headed out the door to the hotel.

             "Damn." She thought to herself, looking around for Raven. "I am going to hate this."

              Raven sat there on some cargo boxes, trying to figure out why he was working with Van. He looked over at shadow, who was just standing there. "Lets finish Drake off quick so we can kill Van and his little friends." He said to his black Organoid. He saw some crewmembers working on the Zoids, getting them prepared. He knew Drake would finish them off in 10 minutes. "Fools, they think he can be killed by outnumbering him. They will wake up real fast when they see him fight." All his life, he wanted to kill Zoids, now he wanted to kill Drake before he killed the Zoids he despised. He didn't know why, but something was familiar about Drake, he didn't know what and it didn't matter. Either way, he would learn that nobody uses Raven. He saw Moonbay walk over to him. "What do you want?" He told her in an angry voice.

            "Your coming to help me look for Fiona now lets go and get this over with you creep." She hated Raven in every way possible and would get Van back for making her work with him.

            "My, such big talk. Forcing me to help you look for somebody I can careless about." He smiled. "Give me a reason, and I might come with you."

            Moonbay couldn't believe she was wasting time. "Because its time you made your self something decent for a change. Van has kept you out of prison and kept you alive. Remember you killed Rudolph you cold-hearted bastard. If I was Van you would be dead with your head gone."

            Raven looked at her, and then smacked her face with the back of his hand. She gave a slight scream as he did. "Fine, Ill take that reason." He looked at her. "Come Shadow." He saw Moonbay on the ground, rubbing her cheek. He didn't care, this would go on till Drake was dead. Then he would kill her along with Van. He jumped off the cargo boxes and headed to his Zoid.

         The stranger walked over to a nearby building, it was a bookstore. He remembered that place, the owner had taught him everything he knew about the Black Zoids and the people who created them. He walked into the store, books on shelves along with a pound of dust. "Where you at old man." He said jokingly.

         "I'm closed, get out, comeback next week or something."

          He heard the voice and knew it was Paul, the man who seemed to know everything about the old times. "Come on Paul, get out." 

           The old man came out and smiled. "Well, Ill be. How you doing, it's been what, 13 years. Come in." The man got happy, he didn't have many visitors or friends so he enjoyed every bit of it when it came along.

          The man smiled, and took a seat at one of the reading tables. "How have you been, your what 85 now." He said.

          "Ha, I wish I was that young, 89, bout ready to turn 90. Want some tea, just made it." The man said with a laugh in his voice.

         "Sure, so what have you been doing, life must be bad since I'm not around." He liked the old man, he was a great guy when he wasn't trying to be funny.

         Paul put a cup down in front of each of them. "Noting, just trying to find or some more stuff on the Black Zoids, and I tell you, I have to take everything back I taught you."

         The man looked at him, his smile gone. "Why?" He drank the tea and spit it right back out. "Damn Paul, what kind of tea was that."

          The man laughed. "I mixed it with liquor. Give it some flavor." He looked at his cup. "Ill drink it if you don't want it."

          "Yea sure, 89 and you still drink more then the entire city. Bad for you Paul."

         "Who cares, it gives money to the guy at the liquor shop, and it keeps me happy and sane." The man said, still laughing.

          "Happy maybe, but sane. Something you have never been." The man said, looking at a book he brought. "What's that book, don't ever remember that one."

           "That's because I found it 5 years ago in some ruins. This book must be as old as life itself. It talks about the creation of Zoids, the birth of Zodians, and a lot of other stuff. Hell, it's not even in a language I have ever seen." 

             "Wow, sounds like you have been busy. What about the Black Zoids." He asked.

             "Dear God, please tell me there not back." Paul said, shivering as he said it.

             "No, Drake has nothing yet, giving us a chance, I found this." He pulled out the Amulet of Fire and dropped it on the table. "That's the Amulet for The Dragon, I haven't found the other two."

             Paul picked it up and studied it. "Yes, solid ruby. Might be the Amulet of Fire." He opened his book to a page near the end. "But what I found was this, I was wrong. You don't need the Amulets to bring the Zoids back to life. And they weren't created by who we think it was."

             The man looked at him, beginning to feel a chill down his spine. "What do you mean."? 

             "They were created by the Zodians themselves to help destroy the factions that opposed them. When they accomplished this, the leaders of the Zodians began using them as a rule of the land. They figured they could wait until the leaders died of age. But for some reason, they kept on living. Finally they died at the ages of 172, 169, 185, and 201."

             He thought Paul was playing another joke, but you could tell in his face if he was. "How is that possible, I mean the most we can live is maybe 130 at the most. These guys added at least 30 years to that. Its crazy."

              "That's what I thought, but I found this. I have been trying to figure out the entire text but have only gotten this so far."

             The man took it, he began to read it.

The madmen have died, but all hope is lost. What few children survived, we put them in an internal sleep. But we fear they will not awaken…… Devil's Eve, will……… bring them…….. life….. We fear… they will kill again…… Drake will lead The children in the future and maybe keep what life Was left by the Black Zoids alive, are race is dead Nothing can change that, but we must not allow a Genocide of the Universe happen…………… …………… It had him scared, he didn't know what it meant. "Who wrote this?" The man asked.       "Not sure, but I that's all I will be able to get. The rest is impossible to read from that stone tablet I found." Paul said, his smile gone and laughter dead.        "Well, there's the name Drake and the Black Zoids. Damn this has been getting weird." It was weird, strange things have been happening for a few days.         "I have figured out this much so far. We were right about the Zodian children and the Black Zoids. I guess they decided to put Drake in charge when the woke up, of course that didn't work to well. Internal Sleep is the Suspended Animation. Ummm." Paul scanned the paper, and grabbed a few more books. "Genocide of the Universe, the removal of all life in this Universe, meaning these Zoids." He gave a frightened laugh "These Zoids can travel through space, destroying all life there is." He slammed the book down on the table. "Damn, what made these people make these Zoids." Paul said. 

          "Devil's Eve." The man said. "What's that."?

           "Not sure." Paul said. "Doesn't sound familiar."

           The man took a book, which he had read before. "I think I saw it before in this book." He looked through the pages as fast as he could. "Got it, Devil's Eve. The Eve when the two moons of Zi are aligned fully, It is said to be the night of the Devil because the sky becomes an evil red. Ok, so what does that mean."? He looked at the pages again.

            "Devil's Eve, I don't know but it must be coming soon, the moons are close to each other." Paul said.

            "Yea but then what are these Amulets for, Fiona sat here and fainted when she saw them."

              Paul cut him off. "Who's Fiona?" He asked.

              "A Zodian girl, the other one besides Drake." He said reading the paper and the book again.

              "Two Zodians, I thought they all died. Wonder why." He sat there for a second and folded his hands on his chin. "Wow, two people alive from a civilization long thought dead. Amazing."

               "Well if we don't figure this out soon then where all dead." He kept trying to figure out what this all meant. "Okay so maybe they still need the Amulets to bring them to life, but it can only be done on Devil's Eve."

             "No, in fear they will not awaken some messed up words, Devil's Eve. Meaning there must be something wrong with Devil's Eve. I don't know, this is got to be the hardest thing so far, or maybe I'm just old." 

            "Naw, Paul. If you lived this long your not old." The man kept looking through the book until he came to a page that sent another chill down his spine. "What's this?" He asked Paul.

            "Drawing, old prophet drew it. Said it was a vision he had while sleeping, happened nearly 1,300 years after the Black Era ended. Why" Paul asked.

             "Well, aren't those the Black Zoids?" He said

             Paul grabbed the book. "Well Ill be, how did I miss that."

               "Look at the moons Paul." The man said.

              "I see one, so." His mouth dropped. "Ok, so who the hell is that guy on top of the Tiger."?

              The man took the book back, looking at the kid, he seemed familiar. "Can't be Drake, to small." The next thing he heard was a loud bang followed by broken glass. He saw Paul drop on the table, blood coming out of his head. Outside he saw Drake, taking aim at him next. The man got behind the table as another shot was fired, he heard people screaming. Then he heard the door open and the gun fall on the ground. He looked over and saw Paul's dead body lying on the floor. "Damn you Drake." He saw a sword come within inches of where he was hiding. Jumping off the ground he yelled. "Damn."

             "Give me the last Amulet now." Drake ordered him.

             "Sure, come on Drake, scared to fight without a weapon." 

             Drake smiled and threw down his sword. "Your choice of death."

              The man charged Drake and rolled on the ground pass him, grabbed a wood chair and hit Drake across the head with it. "Ha, like that." He laughed at Drake.

              Drake got back up a few seconds later, rubbed the back of his head, and gave the man an uppercut to the chin, sending him back a few feet.

              The man grabbed his chin and spit out the blood in his mouth. Drake walked over and kicked him twice in the gut.

             "Last chance give me the Amulet."

              The man, gasping for air, got up and took out the Amulet. "You want this." He walked over to the sink the man had in the back. 

              "No you fool!" Drake ran after him, but he had already dropped the Amulet down the pipe.

               "Go swim for it you bastard." The man said, trying to breath.

               Drake made a fist, and gave the man a right hook to the face, again sending him flying back. Drake wouldn't give any mercy, he kept beating on the man. "You are going to die for that." Drake got his sword and got ready to cut the mans head off.

              The man saw Paul's boiling water he used to make the tea, he grabbed the pot and threw it in Drakes face.

               "Ahhhh, geezzzz, ah hott." Drake screamed, falling to the floor.

             The man tried to run, but he was hurt. He slowly began to crawl, and that's what he did. Drake was down, but he was in no shape to stay and fight. He finally made it to the door and saw the jeep Drake used to get here. He slowly climbed in, watching Drake finally got up. "Don't you quit? He yelled."

              Drake was mad, his eyes turned red with rage and began to walk over fast.

               The man got the jeep started and started getting out of there. He watched, as Drake grew smaller as he drove away. Rubbing his mouth, he saw the blood still coming out and he was still having trouble breathing. "Damn him, poor Paul." He drove back to the military base where Van was.

              "You ready Van." Irvine asked.

               "Yea, lets go." Van said with a smile.

               Irvine looked over at Moonbay. "You sure you don't want me to kill Raven, I can do it in a few seconds."

               Moonbay was seriously considering. "No, Van's right, he is important for now. After that then go ahead."

               Van hated Raven. He killed Rudolph, made his life hell, and did all he could to destroy this planet. Yet, Van still felt Raven was needed. He had fought Drake, and he was 20 times better then Raven in combat, and could kill anybody he wanted without getting caught. He saw the cockpit close and got ready for the Lighting Saiex to run.

                Moonbay watched as Irvine and Van went off in the Lighting Saiex. "Well, better start looking for Fiona." As she turned around she was scared nearly to death. A man stood there with a bloody face and bruises all over. It took her a while to realize who it was. "Oh God, what happened to you."

               He looked at her. "What do you think."?

                "Drake again." She said worried.

                "Yea, killed my friend, tried to kill me. Least he can't get that Amulet." That was the only thing that made him happy.

                Moonbay got a piece of cloth and began to wipe some of the blood off. "Doesn't he care about anything."?

                "Those damn Zoids, they could make a nice team. Both wanting to kill everything in this universe. Yea, real good team. Still need help looking for Fiona."

                  She couldn't believe this guy, he had just gotten beat to an inch of his life and he wanted to help. But then she thought about her other option. "Sure, you can go with Raven."

               The man looked at her. "Great, you made my day."

               "That's what I was hoping you would say." She rubbed his face with her hand and walked off.

               He got up, and started looking around for Raven. He walked past a few Hangers and finally found him. "Well, looks like you got somebody to make sure you don't screw up."

              Raven looked at the man, his face a red with blood and black from some bruise. "Met Drake on you little trip."

              "Don't remind me." He walked over to the Blade Liger. "Got a question for you Raven."

              Raven looked over to him, getting his Zoid ready to leave. "What?"

              "You hate Van, now why do you want to work with him. Your going to get killed either way most likely."

               Raven smiled. "Drake was playing me for a fool, I need to show him what happens when you do that. Now let me ask you a question. How did you get away from Drake alive." If he could still be considered alive.

              "Dumped boiling water all over his face." He smiled when he thought about that. Course that smile reminded him of Paul.

            "Oh." Is all Raven said. He got into the cockpit. "Are you coming or not?" 

            The man looked at him. "No, Ill look around the city with the jeep."

            Raven looked at him. "Fine, lets go Shadow."

           He watched as the Black Organoid jumped into the Blade Liger, trailing it was a red light. That evil kid was one of the few who could him stop Drake, stop the Black Era. He remembered what he had read about the Devil's Eve and the picture he saw. He didn't have time to figure out whom it was, Drake stormed in. He said for the Amulet but he had a feeling it was something else. Drake knew something else that no one else knew. And he was afraid that Paul and himself were getting way to close. One was dead, the other was hurt but not out yet. He spent 25 years keeping Drake from getting those Black Zoids alive. Now Drake was close, and he had a feeling these Amulets may be nothing be a distraction, but then again, Fiona had sensed something in them. He started the jeep he took from Drake and drove off, looking for Fiona.

         Drake stood there, watching the jeep leave. He smiled. "Wait till you see those Zoids, they will amaze you beyond belief." He walked into the base, most of the troops left to take over his ruins, only to find him not there. He searched for anything that might be useful and then he saw something even better. Moonbay was standing there, getting her Gustav ready. He smiled and walked up to her.

        Moonbay heard someone coming and turned around. When she did she screamed. A massive man stood there, smiling. She knew who it was. She ran, but Drakes massive step outran her easily. He threw her on the floor. She tried to crawl away, get up and run. But Drake was to close for her to do anything.

         "You know, your friends have become a pain lately. Perhaps I should get rid of one right now." He pulled out his sword and pointed it at Moonbay.

        She was scared, there wasn't a living soul who wouldn't be. The massive man stood there with the tip of a sword pointing right at her.

          Raven came up behind him and hit him across the head with a lead pipe. "Don't play me as a fool again." He said to Drake, throwing the pipe on him. He looked up at Moonbay. "Heard your scream, then I saw this guy." He kicked Drake in the ribs like he had done to Raven the day before in the Royal Tomb. He went for Drakes sword, but Drakes hand grabbed Ravens ankles.

          "I play people any way I want to." He said, eyes with rage again. He pulled Ravens feet from under him. "Now, you see why." He took his sword and pointed it at Ravens neck.

           Moonbay grabbed the pipe Raven had and hit Drake across the head. He barley flinched. He took his sword and cut the pipe in half. Soon he saw Ravens Organoid charging him. Drake smiled. He ducked when Shadows tail swung at his head and drove the sword right through the Organoids chest. "Beast, now you slowly die." Raven saw what Drake did, and tackled him to the ground. He began to punch Drake as hard as he could, but it ended up doing nothing. Drake threw Raven back and grabbed his sword.

         Moonbay had run to her Gustav and got it started. "Lets see you take this creep." She aimed the guns right for Drakes head and fired. His head was blown clear off. Dropping dead right there.

         She took a deep breath, of all the people she thought she would be the last one to end up killing Drake. His lifeless body laid there, blood coming out of what was once his head. Raven stood up with Drakes blood all over him, smiled at Moonbay. "So, you decided I was worth saving after all."

          She looked at him, she didn't care he was Raven right there, she was glad that madman was dead. "No, I did it because he would be after me when he killed you."

           Raven looked over at his fallen partner, he walked over to him. "Shadow, you'll be alright." But the Black Organoid wouldn't be. The sword had cut right through him, and he couldn't be helped. He looked over at Drake and kicked his body over and over. He was doing it not for him, but for killing his only friend. Moonbay watched, seeing Raven show some heart for the first time.

          The man heard the shot and slammed the brakes on the jeep. "Not good." He said. He began to drive back over to the base where he heard the shot fired. He hoped Drake hadn't found them, otherwise they wouldn't last long. It took a few minutes, he took a shotgun from the jeep and ran into the base. There he saw Moonbay, Raven, Shadow on the ground not moving, and the same for Drake. "Oh my God, he's…. Dead." He couldn't believe it, that man was finally dead. "How."

           Moonbay smiled. "He let his guard down on me, I fired the gun from the Gustav and blew his head clear off."

           Looking at Drake, he saw something in his pocket. It was the other two Amulets. "So he had them all." He smiled, glad that monster was dead. "Ill go back out a look for Fiona, call up Van and tell him.

           She ran over to the Gustav and put the comm up, there she saw Irvine answer it.

           The man stared over at Raven, standing over his dead Organoid. "Poor kid." He thought. He walked out, happy for the first time in his life. Drake was dead, no more threat from the Black Zoids, no more senseless killing. He was happy. Marcus and Paul died for a reason now. But his smile turned to shocked face, remembering what the tablet Paul had found said. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He ran to his jeep, and started looking for Fiona as fast as he could.

         Irvine gave out a huge laugh when he heard Moonbay. "Ha hah, Drakes finally dead."

         Van smiled, the monster that killed his friends was dead. He pat Irvine of the back, he hadn't been this happy in days. "What about Fiona?" Van asked.

         "That weird guy is looking for her right now. Hey Van, what about Raven." Moonbay asked, Van was surprised the way she asked, she had sounded like she didn't want anything to happen to him.

         "I guess well arrest him when we get back." Van replied. 

         "Oh." Is all Moonbay said.

          Irvine looked at her, shocked she would be sad at that fact. "What's the problem, that guys almost as bad as Drake, he deserves to die."

           Moonbay looked at him. "I guess your right, it's just." She paused for a second, figuring out she shouldn't say anything. "Never mind, just get back here quick guys."

           Van smiled. "Sure, no problem." The conn ended. "Irvine, tell all the troops to head back to base, tell them Drakes dead and are mission is over. As for us, lets go out and see if the Blade Liger is done evolving."

            Irvine smiled. "Got it."

            Van couldn't believe this was over. These three days felt like a year in hell. But it was over. True, Rudolph wouldn't come back, and Drake had ruined the lives of a lot of people, but he got what he deserved. And he wouldn't kill another soul again.


	9. Dark Secrets

Authors Note: Last chapter was kind of weird now that I read it not to mention it had almost 5,000 words in it, still had some important stuff in it though and you should really read it. Hopefully this will come out a little better. 

Chapter 9: Dark Secrets

       He drove around, looking to see if Fiona was around. He stopped over at the store Paul owned. People were around it, police and military men were clearing it out. He saw them take Paul's old body away. He lived a good life, and he helped save many other good lives. He smiled. He got out of his jeep and walked over to the store, his face bruised by a now dead Drake. 

       "Excuse me sir, your not allowed in here." One of the policemen said.

       "I was a friend of Paul's, I just wanted to get a book he had." The man said, hoping he would let him in. The guard did and he went in the store. There was a huge puddle of blood from where Paul's body had fallen. He lost two friends to that Drake, Van had lost one and almost lost his own and a few more. He grabbed the book and walked out. He sat there in the jeep, looking at that picture he had looked at before Drake came in. It had some bloodstains, but he didn't care. He stared, looking at the guy standing on top of the Tiger. "Where the hell have I seen him."? He looked familiar to him, but didn't know who it was. He read the text Paul got from the tablet. Still looking at the two words, Devil's Eve. Drake was dead, but there was still a way it appeared for those Zoids to wake up. He looked up and to his surprise, saw Fiona sitting at a table in front a restaurant. He smiled and closed the book. As he walked over he could definitely tell it was Fiona. "You know something Fiona, running away and scarring your friends is very bad." He smiled at her.

      She just stared at him, not saying a word, not smiling. 

      "Ok, what's wrong?" He asked her.

      She looked at him and began to talk. "Van will end up dying because of me. So will Moonbay and Irvine and Thomas. All of them, I wont let them die because of me."

     He was trying to think of something to say, he was bad at cheering people up, but knew he had to give it a shot. "And how will they die because of you?"

      "You don't know anything about me." She replied sharply.

       "Ok, so that's true. But still, I don't get how people can die because of you unless you shoot them or something."

       Fiona just sat there, lost in her thoughts. "You know I'm Drakes sister." Is all she said.

        He sat there, mouth open trying to figure out how that was possible. "No, I didn't know that, but how. I mean you look a little like each other, but he's a weird crazy physco and you're a nice person. Plus the size difference."

        "I didn't know anything about my family until I saw him, then I started having nightmares of a Zoid coming and killing them all except me. I just don't want to lose anybody like I did my family."

        "Drakes dead." The man said, wondering what Fiona would do. She did nothing.

        "He deserved it, I don't feel sorry for him." She looked at the man who was trying to help her, didn't know anything about him. Not even his name.

        "He did deserve it, maybe more then anybody ever. This whole thing might be over you know, nothing else to worry about." He was lying, but he didn't care, he was trying to help her any way he could.

         "No it's not. Those Zoids are still here, I would like to see this planet at peace, but it won't be until these Zoids are gone."

          "So you think these Zoids will be the last evil ever on Zi." He didn't understand her, never would, never will. 

          "No, but the greatest evil will be gone." She smiled at him.

          "You should go back, Van and the rest miss you, might start going crazy without a normal person there to keep them from going crazy."

           Fiona looked up at the sky, the sun at its peak. She didn't know what to do, she did miss Van, and she loved him after all. But she didn't want him to die because of her. "Ok, ill go back."

            "That was easy, thought I would have to drag you back." She got up and headed over to the jeep, he looked over feeling like he was being watched. He knew Fiona was right, this was far from over, and the Black Zoids still existed after all. Even though he had never seen one, he knew they existed. Zoids with a will of there own, a will to destroy all life. Drake was dead, and he was the biggest threat. He walked over to the jeep and there, Fiona was already sitting down. He looked over at the store Paul used to run while he started the jeep. He wasn't going to stay in this place anymore. Drake was dead, his job done. Maybe he could finally get to enjoy a piece of life.

          Moonbay sat there, watching Raven, making sure he didn't run away. But at the same time she was watching him suffer the loss of a friend. His Organoid, Shadow, was dead. Drake's last victim before his evil ways were ended for good. The Zoids began to arrive back at the hanger. She saw General Valen jump out of his command wolf and walk over towards Raven.

          "So, we finally have Raven. Get him out of here." He ordered two troops.

           The next thing Raven did wasn't surprising to Moonbay. He turned around and pushed the guards down, and began to run to his Blade Liger.

           "Will you get him." Valen yelled at the other soldiers. But it was to late. The Blade Liger rushed out of the hanger next to it. Valen was shocked, but didn't give any orders, he had just let it go. Valen looked at Shadow, trying to find out what happened. He walked out of the hanger, and he looked very mad. Moonbay smiled, she still hated Raven for what he has done, but she had a little more respect for him. Just a little.

            Irvine and Van stood there, looking at the Liger that had come out of the cocoon. "It's the same damn thing." Irvine said. "What was the point of that."?

            Van looked around for Zeke, but he wasn't around, just like the man said. "Well, I guess we should try it out."

             "Yea, try it out on the way home, I need a break." Irvine walked back to his Lighting Saiex and Van headed over to his Blade Liger. Van's shoulder was hurting bad, he wished he could rip it off of his body. Looking over, he still saw the Sabertiger that helped keep Van alive. He saw Irvine take off, heading back towards the base. "Well, lets see if you did anything Zeke." Van jumped into the cockpit, everything looking the same, started it up. He was hoping he didn't lose Zeke for nothing. The Zoid moved like always, except for a few things. The Liger was much faster then before, Van was having a real hard time controlling it with his broken shoulder so he just headed straight for the base. He hoped Fiona was back and not in trouble, so far it was a pretty good day and he didn't want it ruined.

           Fiona and the man arrived at the base a few minutes later, they didn't say anything, just drove quietly. The man jumped out and headed towards his Zoid.

           "You're not staying?" Fiona asked him.

            The man looked at her and shrugged his shoulders. "No, done my job. I have been chasing Drake for 25 years, time I had a little break. And besides, for the first time I can remember, there isn't a war. Now that the Zoids cant come to life, not much to do." He smiled at her and walked away.

            She didn't go after him, he was a good man and he deserved some time off. They were all alive because of him. They saved them from Drake and stopped hundreds from dying. She smiled and walked into the military base. She saw a lot of troops walking around, some were standing there talking. She noticed a few dragging a headless body. She knew it was Drake, and she didn't care. Walking in and out of hangers, she finally found Moonbay.

            "Hey Fiona." Moonbay said, glad to see her back.

            "Hi." Fiona said with a smile.

            "Van and Irvine will be back soon in case you were wondering." Moonbay told her, walking over to greet her.

            She smiled. "Who killed Drake?" She was curious.

             Moonbay laughed. "Me."

             Fiona smiled. "That's good. Hopefully now we can actually live without death." 

             "Yea, wars finally over and this mad man is dead. Those Zoids that guy kept talking about wont come alive. By the way where is he."?

              Fiona thought of something to say. "He decided to leave, he said his job was done." 

             "Oh." Is all Moonbay said, walking over to her Gustav. "Well, he was a good guy. Saved a lot of people." 

             "Fiona!" It was Thomas, glad to see her ok. Karl was standing next to him.

             "Hi Thomas." She smiled at him, glad to see him again.

              He came over and hugged Fiona. "Glad to see your ok."

              She looked over at Karl. "Hi."

              Karl nodded. "Glad to see you again." 

              "So Drakes miserable self is dead huh. Its about time." Thomas said, looking over at the bloodstained floor. "What about Raven?" He asked.

              Moonbay turned her head. "He got away, pushed some guards down and got to his Zoid, but his Organoid was killed."

             There faces turned to anger, they wanted Raven dead not free on the loose. "Well, I guess were going to have to find him." Karl said. "But for now, lets take a break, it's been a long three days."

            They all agreed, those three days felt like 3 months. They were miserable and slow. Now that Drake was gone though, they began hoping life would some how turn back to normal. But they knew Rudolph wasn't coming back to them, and for that they couldn't be happy.

             The man bent over and spit on the sandy ground. There was still some blood in his mouth, but he felt a lot better. He could breathe now, his jaw didn't hurt as much, and the blood was drying up. "Well Liger, looks like we win." The White Liger gave a small growl of approval. "Yea, well take some time off and look for those Zoids, destroy them when we find them so no one can use them." He feared that thought, that's why he was stopping Drake so much, those Zoids were horrible and could make Drake look like a Angel. He hoped into the cockpit and went off. He looked up at the sky as the sun was going down and the sky was becoming reddish. "Devil's Eve." He thought, remembering those two words from the book, hoping they meant nothing.

            A kid sat there on a cliff watching as the Blade Liger and Lighting Saiex came in. Next to him stood his Organoid. "So they finally killed Drake." The kid said, he was about 15 with blonde hair and ice blue eyes, he was pretty tall and strong for his age. "What a fool he was." He got up and walked down the cliff, looking at his mighty Zoid. It was the Berserk Fury, the mighty Zoid that reached its ultimate evaluation. "Soon my friend, I will have no more use for you." He smiled. "But you were a great partner, hopefully you treat your next master as you treated me." The Fury gave a roar of approval. He began walking towards the city with his Green Organoid. "Well, I suppose it's time." Is all said.

             Van and Irvine arrived back at the base, his Blade Liger had improved a lot. Van was happy knowing he didn't lose Zeke for nothing. Moonbay, Thomas, Fiona, and Karl all waited for them. His shoulder was feeling a little better, he was a fast healer so it shouldn't be to long before he was at top shape again. 

             "Hey there Van." Moonbay said smiling at him. "Thought your Zoid had evolved."

            "I think it did, it just seems more powerful then before." He looked at it. "Where's Raven." Van wanted to know that.

           "He escaped, but Shadow didn't, he was Drakes last victim." Thomas said.

           Van was mad at that, but he knew Raven wasn't much without Shadow. "Ok."

           "Valen wants us to look for him, we told him you would decide." Karl said, looking at the Blade Liger.

           "Maybe later." Van didn't want to do anything for a little while, except relax.

           They all looked at him, but agreed in the end.

           "Well at least we don't have anything to do." Irvine said. 

           They all walked out of the hanger, not saying much. There wasn't much to say. They weren't used to the fact that they had nothing to do. For once, there was peace. Only they knew that couldn't last.


	10. Child of a Tiger

Authors Note: Wow, I actually made a chapter with less then 2,000 words, it's a damn miracle.

Chapter 10: Child of a Tiger

     Van sat there, in front of General Valen. He had asked for some time off to help heal his shoulder, and his mental wounds.

     "I don't know Flyheight, your very important here, taking time off could cause some trouble." Valen thought for a second and knew this man deserved anything he wanted. "But, I suppose we could go a few weeks without you. You can go on leave for 3 weeks, understood." Valen said, smiling.

     Van stood up and saluted. "Yes sir." He turned around and headed out the door.

    "You deserve it Flyheight, more then anyone else out here." Valen turned his chair around and stared out into the night sky, it was red tonight, due to the moons. It was eerie but also relaxing. 

    "Thank you General Valen." Van said, smiling. He was happy to get some time off, he still felt the pain in his shoulder. That was proof on how powerful Drake was. He was a monster, but Van still wondered why he spared them when they were in the tomb. He didn't know and really didn't care. He was dead, and everyone was of. Except for Rudolph, he would never forgive Raven for that.

     "What did he say Van?" Fiona asked him, waking him out of his thoughts.

     "He said we can have 3 weeks." Van replied, trying to remember what Valen had actually said.

      Fiona smiled, she was also glad to get some time off. "So where are we going to go?" She asked.

      Van thought, and he had a few ideas, but there was one he wanted to do. "Lets go to the Windcolony, see how Maria is doing."

       Fiona liked that, she enjoyed Maria even though it was a few years since she had seen her. "Sounds good. So when are we leaving."

       "Tomorrow I guess, its pretty late now and I need to get some sleep." Van walked over to the hanger where Moonbay and Irvine were. 

       "Hey Van, how you feeling." Moonbay looked over at him, seeing he was still feeling that blow Drake gave him, and he would feel it for a long time.

        "A lot better then I was yesterday." He said, watching them load the Gustav. "So where are you two going."

        "Where ever there's a reward I guess." Irvine said, coming around from the other side of the Gustav. "How about you."

       "Home I guess." He said, watching the Lighting Saiex walk onto the trailer behind the Gustav. "See my sister."

        "That's nice." Moonbay said. "Well, we better get going. See you later Fiona."

         "Bye." Fiona said, smiling. She would miss Moonbay.

          Moonbay and Irvine got into the Gustav and gave a last wave goodbye. The hanger door opened and they were gone.

         "Think well see them again Van." Fiona asked.

         "Sure, they always seem to stick around us."

         She smiled at him and they walked out of the base over to a hotel to stay for the night.

         The man sat there next to the huge lake, splashing water on his bruised face. He felt a little better, but not much. Fighting Drake is one of the worst things you could do, not to mention one of the last. Drake was dead though, not much was left of him. The Zoids still existed, and he knew he had to deal with those next. As he went down to get another handful of water, he saw the reflection of Raven in the water. "Well look who decided to come back."

         Raven stood there, not saying anything.

         "So what do you want." The man said, looking at him.

         "You know Drake killed Shadow." Raven sat there, depressed. 

        "Yea I know, sorry about that but your Organoid knew what it was doing, he made sure you lived even if he died. Zoids are your only true friend." The man looked down at the water, knowing that was pretty true.

        Raven smiled. "Yea, I know that. Shadow was the only friend I had, damn Zoids."

        "Never understood why you hate Zoids, and if you make a story out of it. Make it a short one, don't want to hear something for a few hours."

        Raven smiled. "They killed my parents, they just want to kill."

        "Like you." The man said.

        "Exactly like me." Raven looked down at his reflection. "Exactly."

        "Well, I can help you kill off three Zoids that do nothing but kill." The man looked at him, seeing he was interested. "Help me kill off the Black Zoids, and well, maybe that will take your mind off killing." 

         Raven looked at him. "I don't have anything left with Shadow gone, so I have nothing to lose." He looked over at the Blade Liger he was in. "Fine, Ill help." 

         "Good, I suggest you get some sleep then, were leaving early." The man went over to his Liger and fell asleep in the cockpit. But before he did, he was wondering why Raven did decide to work with him. Didn't matter to much. He would be a great help in destroying those Zoids, hopefully before they came alive.

          The kid and his green Organoid stood there, watching the Gustav pull away from the base. "Well Ullskay, it appears we were right. They split up." The kid smiled, looking around seeing an Iron Kong also pull away. "There goes the older Schubaltz." Everything was going the way he knew it would. He smiled, no body knew he existed, but he did. He was, like Drake and Fiona, one of the few Zodians remaining. Except he was, special, compared to the others. Looking over through the city, he saw Van and Fiona walking. "Soon the Tiger will be revived Ullskay, and when it is, we will command the heavens like we did before." His own father was the one who created the Tiger. When it was done, the Zoid itself had chosen him to be the pilot. But when the Tiger had fallen, it had left him with a special power, it was the power to bring the evil out in a person, he had done it before. He did it with Drake, he did it with Raven. He could do it with anyone, no matter how sweet or kind that person was, even Fiona could fall to him. "Lets go Ullskay, we have work to do." They walked back to the Berserk Fury, he smiled. 

          Thomas, Fiona, and Van sat at the table, slowly eating there dinner. "Was actually kind of exciting when Drake was around." Thomas said.

          "Can't deny that." Van said, looking over at Fiona. "So what are you going to do Thomas?" Van asked.

         "Don't know, guess ill stay around here, and help out until you get back." Thomas said, picking at the last bit of food on his plate.

         "I wonder what happened to that man" Fiona said.

         "You mean the crazy guy, who cares. I'm glad he's gone." Thomas said.

         "He saved all of are lives." Fiona replied.

         "I guess." Thomas said, getting up from the table. "I'm going to sleep."

         "See you tomorrow Thomas." Van said. He looked out a window next to him, staring at the red night sky. It had a evil look in it. He thought about the last day he had seen Rudolph, they were being honored for saving him and the planet. Now he couldn't keep up what he was awarded for, and for that Rudolph died. It was quiet, he and Fiona were the only ones eating, and she wasn't saying anything. He saw something was bothering her, he wasn't sure what it was, and he knew when to ask and now wasn't a good time, he just got up walked up the stair and went to sleep. Something he had a hard time doing for a few nights.


	11. Power of Evil

Chapter 11: Power Of Evil

        He woke up, still in the cockpit of his White Liger. He looked around and saw Raven down by the lake. He got up and stretched out, figuring out what he was going to do next. "Lets go Raven, were wasting time." He shouted over at him.

        Raven walked over to his Blade Liger, looking lost to the world, as if he was in another place. He got over to the Liger and jumped in the cockpit. The Zoid then got up and slowly walked around, waiting for the man to give out a order.

        "Ok then, lets go." The man said over the comm. "Follow me." His White Liger took off with a flash, Raven followed closely. On the way over, he took another look at the book he had gotten from Paul's shop. It was that sketch that interested him the most, he took another look, seeing the kid standing on top of the Tiger, the Dragon on its right and the Falcon on its left. Below, right in front of the Tiger stood a little girl, a sword pointed at the chest of a boy. They seemed familiar, but he didn't know why. He closed the book and got the Liger moving faster, Raven still keeping close. He looked at the sky, it was no longer red, and the moons had sunk below the horizon. He didn't really know where he was going, and he didn't care. He felt he would find what he needed to find anyways. 

        Irvine was in control of the Gustav, Moonbay was asleep next to him. He had the transport moving, hoping he would find something, not knowing what. The sun was coming up, and there was a slight morning fog around. He looked over at Moonbay, he smiled. "She's pretty nice when she's asleep, least I don't have to hear her talk." But his humor turned into horror, up ahead of him was a Zoid he had never seen before. It was massive and was similar to that of the Death Sauer, it had two massive claw like weapons sticking out of its side. "Moonbay, wake up." He said, staring at the Zoid in front of them.

        "What is it Irvine." She said, still having her eyes closed.

        "Wake up now!" Irvine shouted.

        "What is…" She saw the Zoid in front of them.

        "Take over the Gustav and ill get the Lighting Saiex." Irvine said, walking out of the Gustav.

        "Ok." She opened up her comm., to try and talk to the Zoid, but there was no answer. It stood there, not moving. She saw the Lighting Saiex begin to move, jumping of the platform behind the Gustav.

        "Ok pal, lets see what your made of." Irvine said to himself. He charged the Zoid, firing a few shot at it. Then to his surprise he saw the Zoid draw up a shield. "Damn. Moonbay, get out of here now. This guy might mean business."

        Moonbay looked at him. "You sure." She said, a little worried.

        "Yes, Ill handle this guy, ill see you in a bit." He watched as the Gustav pulled away. He was going to see exactly what this Zoid was made of.

        The strange Zodian sat there in the Berserk Fury, smiling. He shut the shield off, watching the Gustav pull away. "Well Fury, shall we show him what we can do." He looked at the Lighting Saiex, his smile turned to a cold stare. The Fury started moving, catching the Saiex off guard. 

        "How did that thing move to quick?" Irvine said, watching the Zoid turn back for another pass. "Well, lets see you move faster then me." He got the Lighting Saiex moving as fast as he could, watching the strange Zoid fall far behind. Irvine turned around and began to charge the Zoid, then he saw the Zoid straighten out its back, just like what the Death Sauer had done when it was going to fire its charged particle cannon. "What, that thing has a charged particle cannon." Irvine tried to pull away but the blast was to quick and to powerful. His Zoid ripped in half as the beam cut straight through it. The cockpit fell to the ground, Irvine unconscious, and Zoid totaled.

        Moonbay watched is shock, the Lighting Saiex, with Irvine in it, was cut in two. "Irvine." She screamed, but she wasn't stupid, she didn't run out there but instead watched as the Zoid walked next to what was left of the Lighting Saiex. She began to feel tears run down the side of her face, watching Irvine near death, with nothing she could do.

       The kid smiled. "Well that was easy, guess he was all talk." He opened the cockpit and jumped out. "But what to do with him, he is still alive." The kid looked over and saw the Gustav there, watching everything he was doing. "Well Ullskay, looks as if we have a audience, I guess we better not let them down." The kind walked over, and picked Irvine up by the head, then quickly twisted it, snapping his neck. "There, quick and painless Ullskay." The Organoid gave a slight growl, wanting to go and destroy the Gustav and its owner. "Now my friend, be patience. Soon every one will be dead, we have no need to rush." He turned back towards the Gustav and saluted towards it. He walked back to the Fury, smiling with a true joy for what he did.

       Moonbay couldn't believe what she saw. "He's gone." She fell to her knees and began to cry. Remembering the kid who had done it, and how he was proud he did it. She remembered how Drake was the same way, and how she killed him. She was mad, but still knew better. She walked to her Gustav slowly, tears in her eyes. It was starting again, what they all were glad had ended was starting all over, she got in her Gustav and headed towards the Windcolony, hoping she could meet up with Van and tell him the news he will hate to hear.

      Van was ready to leave, his Liger was also set. "Lets go Fiona." She was standing there with Thomas, saying goodbye.

       "I'm coming Van. Bye Thomas." She said smiling at him.

       "Yea, bye Fiona. Ill miss you." He said, giving her a hug.

        "Ill miss you to." She kissed his cheek and walked over to Van and the Blade Liger.

        "You ready?" Van asked, and she nodded. The Blade Liger took off quickly and rushed off. He was glad he was going to see Maria again, it had been a few years but he didn't care. He turned around and saw Fiona smiling out the cockpit glass towards the horizon. 

       They stopped at some ruins they had found. Raven was exploring the east side and the man was exploring the west end of it. He had never seen these ruins before, and he had been in most of them. "Weird in here." He said, having an eerie feeling in the back of his head. He saw some words in Zodian, but they were all useless, nothing that showed any importance. "What a waste of time." He said, finding nothing. Walking down a hallway he missed earlier, he was finally seeing some thing of interest. "Damn, there has got to be something here." He had the book in his hands, thinking it might be use full. He had seen a few pictures of the Zoids carved into the wall, and some words about them, but nothing he didn't already know. "Find anything Raven." He didn't answer. "Damn it Raven, will you answer me." He said, screaming into the comm. Still nothing. "Damn kid, should have known he would be trouble." He walked around looking for him, finally after looking for about a hour he found him. "Where the Hell have you been, don't you answer when some one calls you." 

       Raven stood there, and then pointed down a doorway. "Look in there." Raven said, having a nervous tone in his voice.

       He looked at him, then pulled out a lamp. "Fine." He said, slowly walking down into the doorway. The room was huge, and had another doorway, he saw some pictures of a boy carved into the wall. When he looked at them closer, he saw it was the same boy that was in the sketch. He felt a chill go down his entire body, from head to toe as he walked down the second door way. He turned and saw Raven, standing there in fear. He pushed a stone that was in front of the doorway, and looked inside.  His heart nearly stopped beating, in front of him was a massive Zoid, one he didn't have to think twice about knowing. It was the Tiger, standing there, still asleep like it had been doing for thousands of years. He turned the light and saw some words carved into the floor and walls. Each had the same thing said over and over. "I Live." He looked over at the Zoid, then ran out as fast as he could. "Oh God." He bent over, trying to pull himself together. "Oh dear God." He said, scared stiff. It wasn't the Zoid itself that scared him, but the words all over the room. For the first time in years, he was feeling fear. He had stared death itself in the eyes, and never blinked. But for this, he couldn't even open his eyes to. He knew why Raven was scared, and any man who could walk in there and not feel scared wasn't normal. "Lets go." He told Raven. That room felt evil, he didn't know if it was the Zoid, or what. He felt like he wasn't alone, like voices were screaming at him those words, those two words that had more fear then death. "I Live." He didn't know who wrote them, he didn't care. The Tiger was asleep, and as long as that was true, everything was ok. He knew he was lying to himself.

          Van and Fiona finally arrived at the Windcolony. They were greeted by a crowd, and they were treated like a hero. 

          "Van." He heard a familiar voice yell out, it was Maria. "Van, how are you, why are you back." She came and hugged him then looked over at Fiona. "Hi Fiona, still watching out for my little brother."

          Fiona smiled. "Yes, he needs a lot of that." She hugged Maria, glad to see her again.

          "Well lets go to the house, you two must be tired. I heard what had been happening over at the capital, and the Emperor dying, I was kind of worried for a while." She turned and smiled. "Its good to see you ok."

          "Same to you Maria." Van smiled, walking over to the house he had grown up in.

         "Such a nice touch." The odd kid said, staring from a hill a few miles away. "Its good to bring a family together." He smiled, watching as the Gustav approached the city. It was still about 35 miles away though. "Well its about time, I was beginning to think she went to the army for help." He looked back at the small town, it was quiet and peaceful, like most of the towns on Zi. He smiled, turning to the Fury. "Well Fury, I will have another job for you, I am afraid it will have to be your last." The Fury gave a low growl. "Yes, I will miss you, but you can always still be mine. I will simply use you to help me destroy all of these pathetic people." He turned and smiled. Soon, these people would learn the true power of evil.


	12. Chaos Returns

Chapter 12: Chaos Returns

      He sat there, still frightened by the site he had seen a few hours earlier. "You ok over their Raven?" He asked, trying to take his mind of that Zoid and its room. 

      Raven wasn't sure how he felt. He felt scared and tired, ready to roll over and die. He had remembered the first he felt like this. Van had destroyed the Death Sauer. "Raven, still alive over there." He heard the conn say. "Yea, I'm ok, thinking." 

      "Ok, well keep a eye out, still not sure what to do now." He looked around, not sure for what. He pulled out the book again and tried to read some of the old text. It was something he had never seen before, the words didn't seem to want to be read, and the language was alien to him, along with everything else in the book. He turned back to the sketch, still looking at the boy on top of the Tiger. Then looking down at the two kids in front of the Tiger. Then looking more carefully, he looked behind the Zoids, and saw a trail of destruction behind. Zoids torn apart, cities burning, bodies mangled. He slammed the book shut. "That's it." He screamed. He was tired of all of this, he was ready to do what ever it took to end this nightmare. He turned his Zoid around, Raven did the same. He was ready to kill that Zoid before it came to life and killed him. It was time to end everything he had been doing since Drake killed his parents. "Lets go kill that Zoid Raven." 

        Raven smiled, he was also ready to kill that thing. He hated Drake and it would be the last thing left of Drakes legacy. Killing it would shatter him like what the death of Shadow did to Raven. "Good." He replied back to the man. He would get his revenge.

       General Valen and Thomas Schubaltz walked over to the hanger, they had been told something was found near a excavation site, and that they should see it. "Any idea what it is sir." Thomas asked, looking over at him.

      "Some type of Zoid is all they told me, they got a few scientist looking at it, but they said they didn't know either." He replied, looking a little worried.

       "Ok, so why are we going to see it." Thomas said, wanting to know.

       "They want us to see if it can be used as a Zoid for war." Is all he said, they didn't say anything more until they reached the hanger. "Will you look at that."? Valen said, looking at the Zoid, he had never seen anything like it.

        "Wow" Thomas added. It was massive, Thomas looked at it, not sure what it truly was.

        "Sir." A captain walked over, saluting Valen and Thomas. "We found this Zoid near some ruins, it was like this when we found it, wont even move. It's like its dead or something. Any orders"

        Valen walked over, he noticed the Zoid had wings, it was also black. It looked as if it was some sort of bird. "Resembles a Falcon, I just noticed that." He looked over its weaponry. "Seems to have a lot of fire power." He looked at the array of guns over it, and noticed some type of bomb on the bottom. "What kind of bomb is that?"

         "Not sure sir, we didn't want to do anything with it until you arrived." The captain said, also looking over at the Zoid.

        "Well Thomas, your from the Empire, what do you think." Valen said.

        "Well, I would hate to see you use it against us." Thomas didn't like it one bit, there was something about that Zoid, he walked out of the hanger, ignoring what the general said.

         Prime Minister Homaleff walked into the room. They had also found a Zoid near some ruins. "What is this about a Zoid you found." He was still heart broken over the death of there Emperor, but he did what he had to do to keep the Empire alive.

         "Well Sir." Karl Schubaltz said, returning from the Republic capital. "This Zoid was found buried near some ruins, we didn't know if you wanted to keep it or not."

           Homaleff looked at it and studied it. It was the biggest Zoid he had ever seen, but it had no weapons. It was in the shape of a Dragon, evil looking and powerful. "Strange Zoid." He said.

         "It doesn't seem to be alive though, we haven't been able to get it to move yet." Karl said.

          "Well, get it to work then you can contact me." He turned and walked out.

          Karl saluted but saw the Prime Minister ignore it. He looked back at the Zoid, it was strange, and it did have an evil appearance. "Lets try to get this working men." Karl said, moving slowly towards the Zoid.

         Van and Fiona sat there, eating the food Maria cooked for them. They heard some people yelling and decided to take a look. 

         "Look Van, it's the Gustav." Fiona said, watching it move quickly towards the small village.

         "Without the Lighting Saiex." Van added, feeling his heart drop to his feet. "Lets go Fiona." They ran over to the Blade Liger and started heading over to the Gustav.

         The kid smiled, watching the Blade Liger move. "This is working better then I thought Ullskay, and I think the Republic and the Empire have found the Falcon and Dragon. Well this is working better then I thought." He smiled, listening to the Organoid growl. "Yes, go ahead, I guess we can now." He saw the Organoid jump into the Berserk Fury. He smiled, it was only a matter of hours now, and then, all would suffer and die, just like he wanted.

        The Gustav stopped about the same time as the Blade Liger. Van saw Moonbay run out crying. "What happened Moonbay."? He said. Not seeing Irvine any where around.

         "Irvine's dead." Moonbay said, trying to keep herself together. "A Zoid used a charged particle cannon and cut it in two, then a little kid got out and I guess broke his neck." She fell in Vans arms, crying about her lost friend.

          Van couldn't believe this, it was happening again. This was all happening again. He looked at Fiona, she seemed lost to the world, not having a clue what was going on. Van stood there holding Moonbay, trying to comfort her, trying to comfort himself at the same time. "What kind of Zoid was it."? He said.

          "I don't know." Moonbay said with a broken voice. "I had never seen a Zoid like it before." 

          Van was going to say something but before he could, he turned around and saw the little village that was his home, become engulfed in a massive flame.

         The kid laughed as the Fury fired its charged particle cannon at the city, engulfing it in a massive fireball. "Very good Ullskay, very good. You to Fury." He watched the city burn to the ground, and loved hearing the screams of pain. "Ok Ullskay, there dead." He turned, watching as Van noticed them. "Yes, now we truly win." He walked over to the Zoid and got in. "It's time Ullskay, the Tiger must arise."

        Van tried to say something but nothing came out. All three of them sat there in shock, watching the same Zoid that killed Irvine destroy the small village Van loved so much. He ran over there, Fiona and Moonbay followed him.

         "Maria." Van screamed, hoping he hadn't lost his sister. He began to dig through the debris, looking. He found many dead, most of the bodies burned so bad he couldn't tell who they were. No one was alive, no building was left standing. Van couldn't believe any of this, it truly was happening again. Death and destruction, the same things the man had warned him about. He walked over to his Blade Liger.

        "Don't you want to look for any survivors."? Fiona asked.

         "There all dead, the same thing that's going to happen when I find that Zoid." Van was angry and filled with rage. It was time to end this before someone else he loved died. 

         Fiona and Moonbay followed him, they were also tired of all this. It was worse then any war, then any plague, then any fight. Moonbay got in her Gustav and Fiona got behind Van in the Blade Liger.

        Van saw the strange white Zoid and began to follow it, it was moving fast but not to fast. Van had a bad feeling about it but he didn't care, he was tired of all the games these mad men were playing with lives of his friends. And he knew it was time to end it.

        Raven and Van sat there in that room, scared stiff. But they knew that had no choice, that Zoid must be destroyed.

        "So how do we do this?" Raven asked, looking at the words around the room. There seemed to be more then before.

        "Don't know." He pulled out a gun and tried shooting it, but nothing happened. "Damn, why does this have to be so hard."

       "Try killing it with a Zoid." A voice said behind them.

        They turned around and saw a kid standing at the doorway. Raven didn't know who it was, but the man did. It was the kid in the sketch. 

         The kid walked to them, but then an Organoid jumped out from behind them and hit both Raven and the man with its tail, knowing them to the ground.

        "Stop Ullskay, I have another plan for them." The kid said smiling. The Organoid gave a growl of disapproval but backed down anyways. The kid looked over at the Tiger. "Soon you will be alive again, and this time we will win." 

        Van, Fiona, and Moonbay saw the strange Zoid standing next to some ruins. But they also saw a few other Zoids that were familiar. "Raven and that guy must be here." He didn't know if they were working with that kid or not, but if they were he would kill them to. They walked all through the ruins, but they had no idea what they were doing. Van turned to Fiona, she seemed nervous. "You alright Fiona?"

        "There's something about his place, it feels, bad." She was looking at some of the words on the walls. Each of them repeating over and over, Demon Child.

         "Welcome all." A chilling voice said.

          They turned and saw the kid, standing there, laughing at them. The Organoid was next to him, ready to pounce and kill. 

          "You're friends are already waiting, why don't we join them." He looked over at Fiona, wondering if she remembered him, he didn't know.

         "Why did you kill Irvine and destroy that village." Moonbay shouted over at him. Fiona put hand on her shoulder and shook her head. Moonbay knew what that meant and she backed down. They followed the little kid down a few pathways, finally reaching doorway. 

          "Come in, there's nothing in there that will bite." He smiled.

          They followed him in, there on the walls they saw pictures of that boy carved, they were beginning to feel something wasn't right. They came up to a sealed off door and watched as the Organoid pushed it open. Inside they saw Raven and the man sitting there. And behind them, was a massive Zoid.

          Fiona's eyes grew as she felt her heart pick up pace. "The Tiger." She said, remembering what that Zoid had done years ago.

         "Well look who decided to come and die with us Raven." The man said, looking over at them.

         Raven didn't say anything, he just looked at them.

         The Organoid pushed Van inside the room, just as the kid walked in. "Ok kid, who the Hell are you." Van asked.

         He smiled. "Fiona might be able to tell you, if not then I will soon enough." He walked over to the Tiger.

         They all looked at Fiona, trying to see what she knew that they didn't.

         "It is time, my friend. Awaken from your sleep." The kid pulled out the three Amulets.

          "What the hell." The man said, looking at the Amulets. "I threw them down a drain, how did you get them."

         "Those weren't the real amulets, I placed them to have some fun, watching you and Drake chase after them like a rat chasses the cheese in a maze."

           They all stood there, watching and waiting. Then they all wanted to die. They heard a low growl, and saw as the eyes of the Tiger turned to a blood red, moving its head, staring at them all. During all of this, that kid was laughing. 

           The man stared over at Van, who looked right back at him. "We lost kid, its over."

           The Tiger began to move its legs and paws, they were massive just like the Zoid. "Awaken your brothers Tiger, let the chaos of hell spread through out the universe." The kid smiled.

           Van got up and tried to tackle the kid, but the Tiger slammed one of its massive paws in between them, forcing Van to stop right there.

           "Now you will see the power of evil, now you will see why my father created this Zoid, and you will see why it choose me to command it's awesome power." The kid turned to the Zoid. "Ullskay, break us out of this room." The Organoid jumped into the Tiger. They watched as the Zoid turned around and tilted its head towards the sky. The Zoid opened its mouth. They all watched in horror as a charged particle cannon began to power up with it its mouth and under its chest.

           "How does that thing have two particle cannons."? Van looked, seeing the kid answer his question.

            "Its unbeatable. Nothing can stop it." He turned back and smiled.

            The Zoid fired both cannons straight through the roof of the room, causing a massive hole to open up. But the Zoid didn't even flinch, it handled the power of those guns with out a problem. 

            They stood there in shock, none of them new a Zoid could hold so much power. The Tiger jumped out of the room, and for the first time in thousands of years, it stood in light, it stood on the surface. It gave off a massive roar, showing to the universe that it had awakened, and showing to the universe that its end was near.


	13. Betrayal

Chapter 13: Betrayal

      The strange kid with a passion to destroy stood there laughing as the Tiger stood at the surface. 

      "You strange twisted kid." The man said, pulling out a knife. "Ill cut you in half." But before he could move the Tiger fired a shot right in front of him. He dropped his knife and steped back.

     "It's a shame you all can't live to see this Zoids power, it really is something incredible." He looked over at Fiona. "Still can't remember me." 

     She shook her head no, trying to figure out who he was and how he knew her.

     "Quit playing games, that Zoid will eventually kill you anyways, so why did you bring it to life." The man said, trying to get him to stop the Zoid.

     "Because it is mine." He said, his smile gone. "This Zoid chose me to command it, it killed my father when he wouldn't allow me to go near it, it killed my friends who challenged it, it killed my leaders who tried to stop it." He looked up at the Tiger, standing there, staring at each of them. He looked at the group. They all stood there in fear, they knew the power this Zoid had. "My race was killed because of war, now Ill make sure all races die for it." He looked back at the Tiger.

      "So you're just like Drake, mad because your race was destroyed, even though you blame every other living being in this universe." The man said, still trying to get that kid to stop the Zoid.

       The kid laughed. "You still don't get it, how stupid are you. Drake was who he was because of me, just like I did you Raven, just like I have done to thousands of other people." He walked over to Fiona.

       Raven stood there, not believing a word he said. 

       "How else do you think he became such a cruel killer, I can bring out another side in people they never knew existed, you can call it a gift from the Tiger before it was stopped. I'm surprised Fiona, I would have bet my life you would have remembered me."

      "I wish you had." The man said, wanting to go and ring that kids neck, but Raven was already ahead of him.

      Raven jumped at the kid, putting his hands around his neck. "So you think you can control me, well why don't we see."

       They heard the kid gasping for air, but soon it was Raven who needed help, the Tiger jumped down back into the room, now bright from the hole made by the Zoid. It stared at Raven, its red eyes showing it ready to kill. Raven backed down, throwing the kid to the ground as he backed away.

      "When will you learn."? The kid said, holding his neck. "You can't stop me."

      "Will you stop talking and tell us what the Hell you are saying." The man said, looking behind him, watching the others stare at the Zoid.

      The kid smiled. "Sure, if that's what you want." He walked to the Tiger, put his hand in the massive leg of the Zoid. "My father built this Zoid to help the Zodians win the war, but this Zoid had a will of its own, it wanted to destroy all life. It chose me to pilot it, I don't know why. My father tried to stop me from piloting it, but the Zoid killed him. When they were able to stop the Zoid, it had given me the power to turn the will of people, just like it had done to me. The Zodians had put me in Suspended Animation, hoping I could also help revive are dead race. I woke up much earlier then expected, and when I did I woke Drake up with me. I first discovered the power this Zoid left me there, he turned, ready to kill all who tried to stop the rising of the Black Era." He smiled. "I turned Drake into the monster you saw him as. I did the same thing with Raven, his parents were killed and I found it easy to turn him also, but I used him just as a distraction to keep the Empire and Republic off of my quest. That's why Drake went to get Raven, they were coming close again so we brought Raven back into the picture. It worked for a while until Drake decided to do things his own way." 

      They all listened, surprised at every word that kid said. Raven especially. 

      "So Drake wasn't bad after all." Fiona said, her voice filled with sorrow.

     "Of course not, your brother would never have done anything like that. He was weak."

     They all looked over at Fiona. "Drake was your brother." Moonbay said, surprised she had hid that from them. 

     "Why didn't you tell anyone?" Van asked, walking over to her.

     The kid walked over to Fiona. "Still cant remember me, maybe this will help." He grabbed her head, and began to kiss her.

     They all looked at him. "This is starting to get really weird." The man said. Then he looked over at the Zoid, and remembered the nightmare Fiona told him about. It had made sense now, finally."

     The kid stopped kissing her. "Yea, you remember now."

     Fiona backed away, she did remember now. "Jason." Is all she said.

      He laughed. "Didn't think you would see me again, did you." He looked over at Van, he saw he was beginning to fill with rage. "Relax Van, soon you won't even be alive." He walked over to his Zoid. "Now, it is time to finish what I have already started." He got into the cockpit and the massive Zoid jumped back out onto the surface.

     None of them knew what had just happened, they were all hoping this was just a nightmare that they could wake up to. It wasn't. 

     "Well, this is great." The man said, sitting down. Raven walked around trying to sort this whole thing out.

      Van and Moonbay walked over to Fiona. "Ok Fiona, who is that guy." Moonbay said, for the first time angry at her.

       "Let her be." The man said. "We have other things to worry about." He was trying to think of a plan.

       "Don't tell me what to do." Van yelled at him. "I want to know who that kid is."

        "Well good, you try to figure out who he is, meanwhile we can let this planet turn into a giant fireball in just a few days." He got up and pushed open the piece of stone blocking the doorway. He was going to do what he could to stop that Zoid, he knew it was useless but he would die from it anyways. 

        Raven was sitting there, thousand of things racing through his mind, trying to understand. That kid had made him what he was, just like he did to Drake. Raven looked out the massive hole, the kid had ruined his life, all to end every other life. He got up, angry like he had never been before and ran out the room, he was also going to do what it took to get his revenge, he didn't care if died, he had nothing to live for anyways.

        Moonbay watched as the two men ran out of the room. "Where are they going?"

        Van had given up on Fiona, she wouldn't talk to him, or even look at him. "Lets go Moonbay, maybe we can stop that kid." She followed Van out of the ruins. She got in her Gustav and Van got in his Liger, the other Zoids were gone.

         "Hey Van what about Fiona, I don't think we should leave her here." Moonbay asked turning from angry to worried.

        "Shell be ok." He said, starting the Zoid. "Lets find this thing before it's to late."

        The kid smiled, he had reached the first city, it was kind of small but it didn't matter. He saw a few patrolmen coming after him. "Well Tiger, lets hope you still have it." The Zoid opened its mouth and fired the two charged particle cannons, ripping right through the three Command Wolfs and into the city, he watched it burst into flames. "Yes, you still do have it." He smiled, the Zoid moved into the city, it was burning but he didn't care. If they saw a person living, they would just crush them. He smiled, as the Zoid moved on, looking for more life to kill. He knew it was over, there was no one who could stop them.

       "General Valen, Captian Flyheight needs to talk with you." A private said, bringing Valen to the communacation room.

       "What happened Flyheight, back from vaction already." He smiled.

       "Sir, we need you to get ready and attack. There is a massive Zoid heading towards the capital, we just got pass a city and saw it completely destroyed." Van said

       Valen's smile turned into a face of seriousness. "Very well, get to the capital soon as you can, well try to hold it off." The conn ended and he turned to his 1st officer. "Get every unit ready, call up the Empire and tell them to help set up a blockade with are units."

       "All of this for one Zoid sir, seems like a over kill." The 1st officer asked.

       "Look, if Flyheight says to do it for one Zoid then we do it for one Zoid, understand." He said, making sure the man did what he was told. He saluted and walked away.

      Fiona stood there in the cave, remembering everything that had happened. She finally walked out, but she knew Van had left. This is why she wanted to get away from Van, she knew something like this would happen and now he would die because of her. As she walked out, she saw only one Zoid still here. It was the Berserk Fury, standing there waiting for someone to take it over. Fiona saw some smoke on the horizon. She got into the Fury and took it, following a path she feared of taking.

      They had just destroyed another city, along with about a dozen Zoids. "This is easier then I remember Tiger, maybe your even more powerful then before." He smiled, looking back he saw a White Liger and a Blade Liger following him. "Well Tiger, lets move on and find a much bigger army, so we can give these people some type of chance." The Tiger was without a question the fastest Zoid there ever was, it moved leaving the other two far behind. He knew the next city would be the capital. And he knew that's where this would all be decided. He always gave the enemy a chance, even as slim as this would be. It would take millions of Zoids just to scratch the Tiger. He looked at the sun. It was starting to set, he loved fighting at night, it made everything so much more interesting.


	14. Crushing of Faith

Authors Note: Only 1 or 2 more chapters after this ( havn't decided yet.) So enjoy all.

Chapter 14: Crushing of Faith

   "Come on Raven, get moving." The man said, watching as Raven began to fall behind, but then he just stopped. "Oh who the Hell am I kidding." He jumped out of the cockpit, watching Raven come do the same.

   "What happened?" Raven asked, looking to see if his Zoid had a problem. He didn't see one.

   "Forget this." The man said, walking away. "We lost, it's over. 25 years of my life spent keeping these Zoids from coming to life and I get outsmarted by some freak of a kid. There's no damn point, he's got us beat." He looked at the sunset, he knew it would be the last one he would see.

    "Fine, you quit. But I want him to die for ruining my life." Raven walked back to his Zoid.

    "He's ruined all of are lives kid, not just yours. I have fought trying hard as I could to stop anyone from doing what he did, the best pilots on Zi couldn't stop that Zoid." He looked over at his Liger. "Well try tomorrow, he'll have an advantage at night."

     Raven didn't want to wait but he would. He turned and saw another Blade Liger coming towards them. "There's Van." He said, turning around to see the man starting a fire.

     The Blade Liger stopped next to them and Van jumped out of the cockpit. "Why did you stop."?

     "Were going to try tomorrow, even though it won't matter. That kid has us beat, no way we can win against that thing." The man said, still trying to get the fire started, he finally did. 

     Van shook his head. "Well Valen is setting a army up at the capital, so maybe they can stop it."

     The man looked over at him. "When will you learn? Were you asleep when that Zoid blew a hole in the roof of that room, it has more power then any army could even want to have. Ill give them 10 minutes at the most, then they will all die, just like we will, just like every living soul in this universe will." 

     Van couldn't believe what he said, he didn't know a Zoid could hold that much power, but he learned to trust people. He walked over to his Blade Liger.

     "Where are you going kid?" The man asked.

     "Help stop that Zoid." But before he could get any closer Raven stopped him.

     "Get out of my way Raven." He yelled at the man who killed Rudolph.

     "You're going to commit suicide Van, you need to wait." He said, he knew Van hated him but he had to work with him if they wanted even a slight chance.

     "He's right, you leave then we will have no chance. He'll kill you and leave us one damn good pilot short. You leave then you just sealed the fate of the universe." He walked over to his Zoid. 

     Van backed down, he knew his friends were going to fight that deadly Zoid, and he knew they wouldn't stand a chance. He saw the Gustav finally arrive, and it stopped, just like Van had. 

      "Why did you all stop?" Moonbay asked, still in her Gustav.

      "They want to fight him tomorrow, so I guess we'll have to wait while everyone at the capital dies." He sat down, his back turned on Raven and the man.

      Moonbay didn't know what to do, so she just got out and walked over to the man. Then she smacked him.

      The man grabbed his face as she did it. "Damn it, what was that for."? 

      "For letting everyone die." She said, and then she walked over to Van.

      He looked at her, neither of them knew what that Zoid could do, he wasn't sure himself but he had a much better idea, if they went now they would die easily, but if they waited, they might have one slight chance at winning.

       The kid looked around, angry and filled with rage. "Where are they?" He screamed. The Tiger was getting impatient, it watched as the massive army prepared for the strange Zoid. "Soon tiger, we will give them a few more minutes. But that is all."

    Thomas sat in his Dibision, looking around to see if it was near them. "Can you find it Beek." It beeped a no, not sensing the Zoid any where around. "Ok men, keep a eye out, it should be here soon." 

     "There it is!" A pilot yelled.

      Thomas looked over near a hill a few miles away, and he saw the massive Zoid sitting there, just waiting. "Ok, all long range weapons start firing." Thomas also started firing his weapons. He watched as smoke and dust began to appear around the Zoid.

      They all sat there, hearing the shots from the battle miles away. "They've started." The man said. He looked over to see Van drop his head. This would be the longest night of his life.

      "Ok, stop your fire." Thomas shouted, looking around for the Zoid. The smoke began to clear. "It's gone, wow, that wasn't so hard." But Thomas looked around some more and saw the Zoid on another hill, just sitting there. "How did that thing move over there so fast?" He paused for a moment. "Lets try this again." He heard the massive amount of firepower slam into the Zoid, there must have been nearly 300 Zoids out firing at that thing. "Ok, hold your fire." He said, much more calmly this time. Then he saw the Zoid appear behind the smoke, a shield drawn. "How, but we hit it with…" He sat there, admiring the power that Zoid had. Nothing, not even the GenoBreaker or the DeathSauer could take a pounding like that. But this Zoid emerged without a scratch. He watched as his brother finally arrived with his units, making the size of this army incredible.

      "Well Thomas, what does it look like?" Karl asked. Watching as the Zoid withdrew its shield.

      "Bad, very very bad." Thomas was trying to think of something, but before he could the Zoid moved with lighting speed towards their army. "Scatter, everyone scatter." He yelled moving his Dibision.

       The kid smiled, giving his Zoid permission to attack the army. "Look at them scatter Tiger, you still have your fear to." 

      The Tiger began to thrash at every Zoid its massive claws could reach. The armies began to shrink with in moments. Those few Zoids that got a hit on it found it was basically useless. Its speed and maneuverability were unmatched on this battlefield. Zoids that tried to run away were simply out run and destroyed. Soon the army that had a number of nearly 600 Zoids was now around 150 Zoids. And then that number dropped.

      Thomas did what he could, Karl was there next to him. Both firing at the Zoid which wouldn't die. "How can that thing take such a beating."? Thomas said to himself. The he saw the Zoid stop dead in its tracks. He turned and faced himself and Karl. 

      "What do you think we should do now, Thomas?" Karl asked him.

      "Finish what we started." He smiled, they both began to fire at that Zoid, but it drew its shield. Then they saw it open it's mouth. "That cant be good. Let's get out of here Karl."

       The Iron Kong and Dibision turned but the charged particle cannon was to powerful for their Zoids to take. It ripped through them, like it did every other Zoid. Karl was killed instantly, the beam going through his cockpit. Thomas was alive, but barley. He watched as the Tiger walked over to them. It stared at him, it red eyes staring into his very soul. He tried to talk but he couldn't. He watched the Tiger lift its massive paw into the air, and land right on him.

      They heard nothing but silence for a while. And they all knew why. "Maybe they beat it." Moonbay said, even though she knew it wasn't true.

      Raven looked up at the night sky, watching as the moons pulled away from each other. "There all dead." He said. "Worse then anything I could have ever done." 

      They knew he was right, the entire army of the Republic and most of the Empire was gone. There chances were down, the battle lasted only 7 minutes.

     "Damn that kid," The man said to himself, putting his hand over his face. He knew this was it, it would take even more then a miracle to beat that thing. 

      "Madam President, we have to get you out of here." Valen said, he had watched that Zoid destroy his army, and he didn't know what to do.

     "Why, that thing killed all of the forces in the area and a decent amount of them on the entire planet. Even if I do run, what will we do."? She said, staring at the screen, watching the Zoid finish off what few Zoids remained.

      The General knew she was right, but he didn't want to se her die. "We can rebuild, maybe get to a point were we can stop it."

      She shook her head. "No, there's nothing we can do. Summon up the rest of are forces and tell them to get to a safe place. Maybe we can eventually beat it, but not now, now before we die. What about civilians." She asked.

      Valen shook his head. "There trying to get out, but." He turned around "But there's nothing we can do."

      The President nodded. Watching as the Tiger opened its mouth, beginning to charge up its weapon.

      "Well Tiger, they put up a fight. But now it's time to end this." He watched as the two particle cannons fired from its mouth and into the city. "Such a lovely site." But before he could finish what he started, the Tiger fell to its side after being pushed by a Dark Horn. "Wow, this guy has guts." He saw the comm. go up. "You, your dead." 

       "Not yet I'm not." It was Irvine, he pointed the gun at the Tiger and began to fire at it. "Next time you try to snap my neck, make sure you hear it pop." As he ran out of ammo he backed away. He saw the Zoid get up and he charged it. But the Tiger was to fast and easily dodged it.

       "You had a chance of living, now Ill end that chance." The kid moved the Tiger, watching as the Dark Horn matched its move. "Something's wrong" The kid said to himself. And he saw why. The horn on that Zoid had punctured a hole it the Tiger side when it rammed it. "You are going to pay for that." Then he felt some shots hit the other side of the Tiger. They were a few Command Wolves. The kid smiled. "So be it." The Tiger was crippled, and it was getting worse. He activated the shield and began to walk towards the command wolves, but the Dark Horn ran up from behind and rammed it.

      "Not to good of a pilot, is you kid." Irvine smiled. He watched as the Tiger feel to the ground.

      The kid smiled, he pulled out a black amulet in his pocket and held it up. He heard a huge crash from the city and watched as the Flacon rose up from the ashes of the city.

      "Where did that thing come from?" Irvine watched it fly towards the command wolf, it dropped a bomb and Irvine watched as a massive explosion engulfed the Command Wolves and came close to him. 

       The Falcon turned around and drew a blade from its bottom side. It watched as the Dark Horn tried to run, but the Zoid was cut in half as the blade sliced through it.

       The kid laughed. "As you see my dead friend, I can not be beat." He tried to get the Tiger to fire its cannon at the remaining Dark Horn, but it disobeyed. "What are you doing Tiger, finish it."? The Zoid was damaged. It could barley move. The kid looked around in disbelief, and on the horizon he saw his old Zoid coming. "What's the Fury doing here?" But then he knew, it was Fiona. "Well, now it gets better."

      Fiona stopped the Fury as she saw the pilot of the Dark Horn laying there. "Irvine." She said, she jumped out of the cockpit and ran to him. She looked up and saw the Falcon circling around, and the damaged Tiger limping. "Are you ok Irvine?" She looked at him, he was bleeding from his head and chest.

       "Yea, Ill live." He said softly.

      "Welcome Fiona, wasn't sure if you would come over." He walked to her.

      "Get away Jason." She said, still holding Irvine.

      "You know that kid?" He said, looking at him.

      "He's a Zodian, like me." She hated him for what he had become.

      "Great." Is all Irvine said.

      "Still mad because I turned your brother, or is it because I just killed your friend Thomas." He smiled at her.

      She couldn't believe what she heard. She grabbed a piece of broken glass and charged at Jason. He ducked and grabbed her by the head, forcing her to stare at him. She fainted.

       "What did you do." Irvine yelled at him, getting up.

      "Nothing, just making sure she will work with me now." He smiled.

      "She isn't going to work with you, she just wanted to kill you, and for Fiona to do that she has to really hate your guts."

       Jason laughed at him. "Doesn't matter, you'll see."

      Irvine walked over to Fiona. "You ok Fiona."

       She woke up, looked at Irvine, and she kicked him in the gut. He went down to the floor.

      "Told you, next time listen." He pointed at the Falcon. "Get down here." He looked back at Fiona. "That's your Zoid now."

       She looked at him, and smiled. "Perfect." She said, walking over to where the Falcon had landed.

       He stared over at Irvine. "I am feeling good today, so Ill let you live for now, but don't worry, it will only be for two more days at the most. He went back to the Tiger, and moved into the city. He knew Van would be coming soon, and it would be here where they fought, and it would be here where they died.


	15. Last Chance

Authors Note: Last chapter, but also the biggest. So make sure you have some time on your hands when you read it.

Chapter 15: Last Chance

      He looked around, watching Van and Moonbay sit their, Raven was doing the same against his Blade Liger. "You all should have gotten some sleep, this is going to be a long day." 

    "Why didn't you get any sleep?" Van asked.

    "I hardly ever sleep." He looked over, the sun was coming up, and he could feel the morning dew on his face. "Well, this is it my friends. The ultimate challenge." He got up and walked over to his White Liger. "Well buddy, you ready for your biggest test yet." He said, patting the Ligers side. It growled an approval. He smiled. "Good, so am I." He jumped in the cockpit and watched everyone else do the same. The Zoids ran off towards what was left of the capital. Going to meet there greatest foe, and there biggest test.

       Jason sat there, doing what he could to help the Tiger. "A lot better, now you can go at nearly full power against Van and his friends." He smiled. He had to admit, there was another motive for wanting to kill Van then to complete his dream, he wanted Fiona for himself, just like she was before they were put to sleep. He saw the Falcon, sitting there waiting for it's victims to arrive. He jumped in the cockpit and waited for his enemies to arrive. This would be a great battle, one for the history books if there was a future.

     "Well that answers the question of who won." The man said, staring at the battlefield. Pieces of Zoids were everywhere, same thing with bodies, some whole, some cut in two, others crushed. He looked back at the once mighty city, now nothing but a smoldering pile of ash. "This is un real." 

     "How can a Zoid have this much power."? Moonbay said, looking around. "There must have been 500 Zoids fighting, how can one beat all of that." She was trembling.

     "I told you it was unbeatable, it's power has never been matched, and hopefully it never will." He looked around for the Tiger, but it wasn't in sight."

      Van looked and saw Irvine. "Look, its Irvine." He screamed.

       "Where?" Moonbay asked, looking around finally finding him. "He's alive."

      "Don't go after him." The man said, looking into the city. "There they are."

      They all looked, and they saw the Tiger, standing there in the city, staring at them.

      "This is it." Raven said, staring right back at the Zoid.

      "So what's the plan."? Van asked.

      "Not sure, I guess we attack it. Just make sure you never stand still for a second." He stopped in the middle as he saw the Falcon burst into the air. "Oh that's just great." He said.

      "What is that?" Van said, looking at the massive flying Zoid.

      "It's the Falcon, another one of the Black Zoids. Ok change in plan. Raven, Van, try to bring that Falcon down, ill do what I can against are friend in the Tiger. Lets go Liger." The White Zoid began to move towards the city and the Tiger. "Payback kid." He said.

      "Ready Raven." Van asked, looking at the Falcon.

      "Lets go." Raven replied, opening fire on the Falcon.

      The White Liger charged the Tiger, but he watched as it jumped to the side. His Liger raised it's paw and began to swing at the Tiger, but it easily dodged it. 

      "Is that the best you can do, I hate to say it but you're in trouble if it is." The Tiger moved in to the Ligers side and slammed its head into it, knocking the Liger down. It quickly got up, and jumped into some rubble, the Tiger followed. The man turned the Zoid sharply watching as the Tiger zoomed right past it. Now the Liger was behind it and it jumped on the Tigers back, trying to rip its claws into it. The Tiger activated its shield, forcing the Liger to get off. 

     "Damn you kid, why cant you just die." He charged the Zoid, knowing it would turn he did the same and he hit the side of the Tiger, knocking it to the ground. The Liger made a jump for the Tiger but it got up and moved out of the way. Both Zoids began to charge each other, both colliding going at massive speed, bringing both Zoids to the ground. The Tiger got up first, and jumped on the Liger, lifting it's massive paws into the air and dropping them onto the side of the Liger. The Liger countered, slashing the bottom of the Tiger, forcing it to back off it's attack. Both Zoids began to growl at each other, ready to fight to the end. "Lets go Liger, we have no choice but to win." He saw the Tiger make a jump toward the Liger but it backed off. Both Zoids stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the fatal mistake.

      "I have never seen a Zoid dodge fire like that." Van said, still trying to hit it.

     "Its way to fast, we can't hit it from down here." Raven yelled back.

      They kept trying to hit the Zoid, watching it fly circles around them. 

     "Maybe we can try and jump at it." Van said, seeing it wasn't too high.

      "Ok, ill keep shooting it, you make the jump." Raven said.

       Van turned the Blade Liger around until he was far enough away. "Ok Zeke, I didn't lose you for nothing, lets see what you did." The Zoid began to move, much faster then it had ever before. The Zoid jumped in the air, drawing out it's blades, and slicing through it's wings. "ha ha." He screamed. "Got it." The Blade Liger cam crashing down, but landed on its feet. The Falcon crashed onto the surface, bursting into flames. 

       "Ok Van, lets go destroy that Tiger now." Raven looked over at the fight in the remains of the city, it was the most incredible fight he had ever seen or been in.

      The Tiger and White Liger kept ramming each other, the first one up would always strike at the other downed Zoid. "There goes the Falcon kid, now it's 3v1." 

      Jason laughed. "I won a 600v1, what makes you think this will be any harder."

      "Two reasons. Number 1, they aren't as good as me. And number 2, they aren't me period." 

      The kid laughed. "So what, Fiona is going after the Dragon, soon that Zoid will be here to."

      The man sat there in shock. "Why the Hell would Fiona work with you?"

      "Same reason Drake worked for me." Is all he said.

      He just sat there, looking at the sky. He saw the book from Paul's shop and opened it to the sketch. He finally understood that picture. The kid who was in the Tiger stood on top of it. Fiona was the girl with the sword pointing at the boys neck, and Van was the boy who had the sword pointed at him. He threw the book on the floor.

     "What happened, finally learned you can't win." Jason said, laughing at him.

     "No, you just gave me a reason to fight until one of us dies." He charged the Tiger as fast as the Liger would go, the Tiger couldn't move in time. The Liger lowered it's head and drove its shoulder into the neck of the Tiger, throwing it back against a semi-standing building. He jumped and drove it's claws into the Tigers belly and neck. The Tiger used it's own claws and dug them into the Ligers chest. Both Zoids, trying to over power the other, stayed there like that.

     "You think you can win, well try this." The Tiger opened it's mouth, revealing two guns that began to glow.

     "That's how you want to play, fine." He waited, and ducked the Liger to the floor, forcing the Tiger to lie on the Ligers back from the sudden release of energy. The cannons flew down a straight line, hitting nothing. The Liger jumped to its feet, throwing the Tiger onto it's back. It quickly got up. The man sat there, breathing hard and sweating, staring at the Zoid that wouldn't stop. Both Zoids were damaged, but neither would give up. He looked and saw Van and Raven coming. "Listen you two, he has Fiona working with him, she went to get the Dragon from the Imperial base a few miles away, go over there and stop her, Ill finish this fight right here."

      Van stopped when he heard him say Fiona. He couldn't believe it, first he had seen Jason kiss her, and now she was working on his side.

      "Lets go Van, you're going to have to forget who she is for now." Raven screamed, interrupting his thoughts.

      "Ok, lets go." Van said, he didn't know what he would do.

       Both the man and Jason were exhausted. This was the biggest fight of there lives, and the deadliest. Both Zoids never gave up, always fighting and always ready to kill or be killed. The Zoids charged again, raising there claws and driving them into the other Zoid. He saw the Tiger was hurt, but it was the same with his Liger, maybe even worse. He saw some blood coming down from his forehead, but he just wiped it away. He looked around, trying to find something he could use, but there was nothing but broken up concrete. He stared at the Tigers red eyes, waiting for it to make a move. Neither Zoid moved for a few minutes, but then they just charged each other again, both ramming into the other. He finally saw a weakness in the Tiger, he saw the side of it with a small hole. He knew what he had to do. He turned his Zoid and began to run. He watched as the Tiger soon followed. He turned down a few corners, waiting for a perfect time to turn on the Tiger. He finally found his chance. He turned to the side and rammed the Ligers head straight into the hole. Both Zoids fell to the ground, not even able to move. 

      Van and Raven had reached the Imperial base, but there was no sign of Fiona or the Dragon. "Now what?" Van asked, looking around.

      "I guess we go back." Raven said.

      "Something isn't right, there are no troops around." Van said, noticing the lack of guards around the towers and posts. 

      "Maybe she got it." Raven watched as a massive Zoid rose out of the base. "Yea, she got in."

     Van still couldn't believe he had to fight Fiona, but he knew it was her or everyone else on the planet. For the first time he was going to put his feelings aside and do what he had to do, even though he knew he would hate it. "Let's get back to the capital Raven, it will be easier over there." 

     "Ok." Both Blade Ligers rushed back towards the capital, watching the Dragon slowly follow. "Not to fast is it."

     "No." Van replied. "Should make it easier for us then." 

      Jason sat in his Zoid, he was feeling dizzy and tired. The battle had taken a lot out of him, more then he expected. But he looked and saw that White Liger in the same shape. "Lets go Tiger, time to finish this." But the Zoid couldn't move, it had taken extreme damage from that last blow, along with both pilots. Neither Zoid could move and neither pilot could think. "How can this be happening."

      Moonbay ran up to Irvine. "You ok Irvine?" 

      "That guy did something to Fiona, I don't know but now she's working with him." He said, breathing hard.

      "Ok, what do you want me to do?" She asked, looking towards the city, she saw the two Zoids on the ground, not even moving. 

      "Lets see if there are any survivors around." He said, slowly getting up.

      "Ok." Moonbay helped him up then they began searching the rubble for any survivors.

     The man watched as the Tiger finally got up. "Damn, how did he get up." He was trying to get the Liger up but it wouldn't respond. "Great, command system freeze. Nice timing Liger." 

     "Your going to pay for that." Jason said, voice filled with anger.

     "Well looks like I got your Zoid pretty good, so at least I did something before you kill me." He said, watching the Tiger open its mouth. 

      "Doesn't matter, the Dragon is revived, and the Tiger will eventually come back to 100%." Jason smiled. "So long." But he didn't fire, nothing happened. "Damn it Tiger, now what." He saw the Zoid was to damaged to fire its charged particle cannon. "Oh well, I guess Ill have to do it the old fashion way." He lifted the Tigers claw and slashed down on the Ligers head. "So ends it." He turned the Zoid around and walked towards the Gustav.

       "Ok Van, lets get rid of this Zoid and go after the Tiger." Raven said, turning his Zoid around. He stared at the Dragon, it was huge, but still slow. 

      "Right, this shouldn't be to hard." Van was trying to figure out a way to destroy this Zoid without killing Fiona. He watched as Raven made a run towards the Zoid, it jumped towards the neck of the Dragon, pulling out its blades. But the Dragon raised it massive arm and smacked it to the ground. "How did that thing move so fast?" He said to himself, watching Raven slowly get up. Then he saw the Dragon open its mouth and fire some sort of massive beam at him. "Move Liger." The Zoid ran, but the beam just followed him. "Raven try it now."

       Raven got up, and saw the beam following Van, but before he could move towards the Zoid, its massive tail hit him square in the side and he flew back a few yards. "This isn't easy." He said to himself.

      Van turned towards the Dragon, that beam finally letting up. He saw it raise its arm and swing towards him, he was able to juke towards the side but just ran into it's tail, knocking him flat on the ground. "Great, now what."

       "Uh, Irvine." Moonbay said with fear, watching as the Tiger slowly moved towards them. 

        Irvine saw the Tiger coming over. He looked around for any Zoid that worked and finally found one. It was the Zoid Fiona came in. He ran towards it. "Moonbay, get out of here." He yelled.

        "Right." She ran towards her Gustav, getting in it, she watched as the Zoid that destroyed Irvine's Lighting Saiex began to run towards the Tiger. "Good luck Irvine." She turned the Gustav around and began to move out of there.

       Irvine sat the Fury, staring towards the Tiger. He was setting the Zoid up to fire its charged particle cannon. He watched as the Tiger drew out a shield. The cannon fired. Irvine watched as the beam tried to pass the shield, but it couldn't even push the damaged Zoid back. He watched as the Tiger opened its mouth.

      "Try blocking this with the Fury's shield, watch how fast you die." Jason couldn't smile or laugh any more. The game had ended and the fight for survival had begun. "You better fire it this time Tiger, or Ill burn you right here." The Zoid obeyed, it was also starting to get serious, it had finally realized that it wasn't invincible. Its power was unmatched but it could still be destroyed.

      Irvine watched the beams charge, and he knew that kid was serious. He withdrew the shield and ran. But the Tiger had fired. Irvine slammed the Zoid into the ground, hoping the beam would miss and it did. But its power and done the damage. "Command System Freeze." He saw the Zoid say, not moving any where. He slammed his fist into the command console. 

     The Tiger walked over to him and raised its massive claws. "Now you die." But the Tiger was getting shot at, it looked up and saw the Gustav firing at it. The Zoid was to damaged to take the shots so it drew up its shield. "Your going to pay for that little girl, get ready burn in Hell." The Tiger began to run, withdrawing it's shield and moving as if nothing happened to it.

     "What happened Van, afraid to hurt me." Van heard that voice, it had been talking to him for a while. It was Fiona. Both Raven and Van had gotten up, staring at the Tiger.

      "This thing is incredible, how do we destroy that thing." Raven said, searching for a weakness, wishing Shadow was around to help. He closed his eyes, then knew what to do. "Ill charge for it's head, you go for the neck."

       Van looked at him. "You crazy Raven, that beam will destroy you before you knew what happened." Raven cut him off.

     "Who cares." Raven said, looking at the massive Dragon. "Go now."

       Raven's Blade Liger made the jump for the head, and like Van said he saw the mouth open and the beam hit him dead on.

       Van had made the jump, watching Ravens Blade Liger tear into pieces, the Dragon was ignoring Vans Blade Liger and he easily cut right through the Zoids neck. He landed hard on the ground. He tilted his head down, thinking about what just happened. But then he saw what remained of the Dragon burst into a massive explosion, he got his Liger moving away and going towards the city. "Fiona." He said, hoping she might have survived. He saw the Tiger running towards the Gustav, he would have to come back later.

       The Tiger withdrew its shield and made a jump for the Gustav, getting ready to slash it to pieces. But before it could reach the transport, a Blade Liger drove its shield into the Tigers healthy side, knocking it flying. 

      "You bastard." Jason yelled, tired of all of this. The Tiger got up, it was damaged beyond belief. Both the Falcon and the Dragon were destroyed, and the Tiger was close to its end. The Tiger opened its mouth and fired the charged particle cannons at the Blade Liger. He laughed as it hit the Zoid dead on. "He didn't even try to dodge it, what a idiot." But his laughter stopped, and his anger rose. He saw the Blade Liger standing there, it's shield drawn and didn't even budge. "Wow, how did that happen." Jason said, trying to understand how it had survived.

       "Its over Jason, your dead." Van said, his voice with anger and rage filling it up.

       The Tiger charged the Zoid, both hitting each other harder then any could take. Van grabbed his shoulder, feeling the pain from when it was broken by Drake. The Blade Liger laid on its back, unable to move. Van was screaming in pain, he was able to ignore the injury but now it was back. He watched as the Tiger slowly came up on him.

       "No Van, now you die." The Tiger was again hit in the side, this time the White Liger had done it. The Liger drove its teeth into the neck of the Tiger, but the Tiger was able to counter and brought its claws into the Ligers chest. "Why don't you people just die." Jason screamed.

       "Not before you kid." The man said, using all of the Ligers power to hold the Zoid. "Damnit Van, get up and kill this thing."

       Van did what he was told, ignoring the pain, he got his Liger up and drew out its blade. He saw the Tiger entangled with the White Liger, not able to move. The Zoid charged the Tiger, its blade slicing the unbeatable Tiger in two, the White Liger came down hard, its Zoid laying there not moving, and the Blade Liger collapsed to the ground. Van sat there, trying to bring himself together, trying to understand all that happened in this week. He laughed and cried at the same time. It was over, finally. He jumped out of the cockpit, he saw Irvine run up to him.

       "You did it again Van." He said, putting his arm around Van.

      Moonbay screamed for joy, jumping out of the Gustav and running towards Van and Irvine. But Van ignore her, he ran over to the few pieces of the Dragon, looking for Fiona. Irvine and Moonbay helped, looking for either Raven or Fiona. They found Raven, bleeding badly, the same thing with Fiona. Both couldn't move and were barley alive.

      "Fiona." Van yelled, lifting her up gently. He began to cry, holding on to her tightly, hoping he wouldn't lose her like he had lost so many.

      Jason stood there next to the Tiger. "Well that wasn't expected, now Ill have to come up with a new way to destroy everyone." He smiled and turned around. But he didn't move, he just looked down the barrel of a handgun, pointing right at his forehead. "Still alive, I have to admire that about you." He smiled.

    "I admire nothing about you." He said, still pointing the gun.

    "Shame, oh well, I guess you will have to kill me." He began to laugh.

    "You like what you do, huh. Still think your immortal." He turned the gun around and smashed it against Jason's head. He fell to the ground. "You cause more death and destruction in a day then a war could do in a year. You enjoy watching people suffer, well lets turn it around and watch you suffer."

    "You wont kill me, you don't have the nerves to do it." He said, still laughing.

    "You can tell me that in Hell." He said, taking the safety off the gun.   

    "Ill rule Hell." He said, his smile gone and laughter over.

    "Then you can have me there." He fired the gun at Jason's forehead, killing him instantly. Some of his blood splattered in him, but he didn't care. He threw the gun at Jason's head and looked up. He saw Van holding Fiona, Moonbay and Irvine were trying to help Raven. "Nice work kid." He said to himself, he turned and walked to his White Liger. "Well old friend, we did it, what do you say we get out of here." The Liger gave a soft growl. The man rubbed his head, wiping off the blood still there. He got in the cockpit and got his Liger to slowly limp away. The Black Era had come, but it was stopped. He took out the book and looked back at the sketch. He smiled. "Not to good of a prophet was he Liger." He ripped out the sketch and tore it up. "Finally over." He said, looking back at the kids who helped defeat that mad man.

Aftermath: 4 Months Later

     They all stood there in the cemetery. Walking through the graves of those who died against Jason and the Black Zoids. There was more destruction in that one day then the war between the Empire and Republic could have done even if it was still going on. Both factions were basically dead, but they would rebuild, they didn't have much of a choice. Nearly a million and a half people died from the Black Era. But it was over, and it could never happen again. The unbeatable Zoids were destroyed, and the mad man who commanded them was dead.

     "Kind of a good thing when you think about it." Moonbay said. "At least the Empire and Republic will have to work with each other for once." She looked over at Van and Fiona. "What do you two think."

     "Don't really know. I guess your right." Van said, reading Thomas's tombstone.

     "I have to admit." Irvine said. "Ill miss all of these people." He smiled.

     "So Raven and Drake weren't really that bad after all, they were basically forced to do what the did." Fiona said, walking around. "Like he did with me." 

    "Hey Fiona, one thing I still don't get, why did he kiss you." Moonbay asked, never thinking about bringing it up until now.

    She didn't say anything, no one really cared. They were all glad it was over. There was actually peace on the planet, even though it cost a million lives and the lose of a lot of friends. They all walked out of the cemetery and over towards there Zoids. Peace for the first time, hopefully it would actually last.

      Raven stood there, watching them from afar with the man next to him. "Think they'll ever forgive me?" Raven asked.

      "Doubt it, but then again." He walked back to his Liger, Raven following him.

    "I still hate Zoids you know." He said, smiling.

    "So do I." He said jumping in the cockpit. "But who cares."

     Raven jumped into the back of the Liger. "So now what?"

     "Well, are lives have been screwed up, guess we have to make up for lost time." The man said, getting the White Liger moving.

     "Sounds good." Raven said, watching Vans Blade Liger begin to move as well. 

Authors Notes: R/R Your finale thoughts, hope you all enjoyed and check out some of my next stories.


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